They reject ICE from our streets. Residents and activists do not want “La Migra” agents to train armed in the Town of Islip, one of the areas of Long Island where a large Hispanic community lives and directly suffers from the recurring operations and detentions of immigrants, carried out in the midst of Republican President Donald Trump’s anti-immigration policy.
A group of local residents raised their voices to oppose the renewal of a contract between the municipal government and ICE that allows agents of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement to use the Islip shooting range facilities for their training and target practice.
This was made known during a recent meeting at City Hall (held on April 21) where they warned about the use of weapons and the impacts they cause in this Latino community, such as people’s growing fear, separation from their families and less public participation.
The contract is scheduled to expire on Tuesday, June 30, although the Islip Town Board — dominated by Republican politicians — is expected to move to renew it. This controversial decision has been grabbing headlines and reports in the media that reflect the indignation of the affected neighbors.
It should be noted that while ICE currently holds 60,000 people under arrest, it has been reported that 71% of them do not have a criminal record, as highlighted by WSHU Public Radio, a nonprofit radio station serving Connecticut and Long Island, New York.
According to the data presented, 442,637 people were deported from the United States between October 2024 and September 2025; Likewise, by February 2026, less than 14% of immigrants arrested by ICE had been convicted or charged with violent crimes, according to CBS News.
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Immigrant persecution
“While our families live in fear, the leadership of the town of Islip is choosing to renew its contract with ICE, this contract allows federal agents to use local facilities for training,” complains Ahmad Perez, founder of the local activism group “Islip Forward.”
“The presence and activity of ICE is causing real harm, separation of families, constant fear and a community that stops participating in public life,” he claims in statements to the national news network Univision.
It should be noted that tensions around the presence of ICE in Suffolk County have been increasing as a result of the arrests and “persecutions” of immigrants who did not have criminal records.
The communities of Islip and Brentwood are the most affected on Long Island where residents comment that they have seen immigration agents near schools, businesses and public places, many residents even use social networks to post photos and videos of ICE operations.
Given this, the community organization Islip Forward has an active tool that allows people to monitor and be aware of immigration control activities on Long Island.
They launched the “ICE Tracker” in Nassau and Suffolk counties (https://www.islipforward.org/ice) as an online tool for community members to track and report, in real time, sightings of ICE agents, in order to help keep immigrant families informed.
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