U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is renting office space in Woodbury for up to 40 attorneys, according to Aresco Management, which owns the four-story building. The move is raising concerns from immigration advocates and elected officials who see it as a sign of escalating immigration enforcement actions on Long Island.
As recently reported by Wired Magazine, ICE has been engaged in a “secret campaign” of rapidly expanding its presence across the United States.
In addition to Woodbury, ICE is reportedly moving into offices in New Windsor in the Hudson River Valley and Roseland, N.J. The Department of Homeland Security is also reportedly pursuing an immigrant detention center in Chester, N.Y.
The ICE expansion comes despite the fatal shootings by federal agents of U.S. civilians Renée Good and Alexi Pretti in Minneapolis last month. Their deaths led to nationwide protests, as lawmakers questioned ICE tactics and training. Recent polling shows that Americans increasingly disapprove of Trump’s handling of immigration.
DHS claims that through its recent recruitment efforts the agency now has 22,000 officers and agents. The agency received roughly $80 billion in funding through Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, enabling its expansion across the United States.
In a video statement, Rep. Tom Suozzi of New York’s 3rd District said, “We saw what happened in Minneapolis and Chicago and Los Angeles, and we don’t want that happening here on Long Island.”
Upon hearing the news of ICE renting the Woodbury offices, Suozzi said he immediately asked Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem for transparency on the issue, writing in a letter to her, “Transparency and good-faith engagement between federal, state and local officials are essential to building trust and preventing the chaos and uncertainty we’ve seen elsewhere in this country.”
Suozzi said while he was disappointed not to hear back from Noem, he was glad to have the building owner confirm the office space will not be used as an immigrant detention facility.
“We do not need ramped up enforcement here on Long Island,” Suozzi said. “We don’t need a sweeping deportation system. I’m all for going after the gangs and criminals, but let’s not put families in crisis by separating them.”
Suozzi pleaded for using “common sense” in helping legalize people who may not have the proper documentation but have been living and working in the country “since before Trump first became president.”
“Let’s work together to solve this problem and secure the border and fix the broken asylum system in a way that treats people like human beings,” Suozzi said.
The Immigration Research Initiative estimates that 550,000 immigrants currently live on Long Island, and between 88,000 and 112,000 of them are undocumented.
This year ICE’s presence on Long Island has reportedly extended to areas like Brentwood, Central Islip, Huntington Station, Uniondale, and the Hamptons. Agents are operating out of the federal courthouse in Central Islip and the Nassau County Correctional Center in East Meadow.
In recent days, Long Islanders have protested against ICE in Great Neck Plaza and East Meadow.
Democratic Clubs from Great Neck, Manhasset, Port Washington, Albertson, Herricks, New Hyde Park, East Williston and Williston Park led a “De-ICE Nassau County Protest” in Port Washington on Saturday.
Gov. Kathy Hochul, in her introduction of legislation to protect New York residents’ constitutional rights from ICE overreach, said: “Over the last year federal immigration agents have carried out unspeakable acts of violence against Americans under the guise of public safety. These abuses – and the weaponization of local police officers for civil immigration enforcement – will not stand in New York.”
