Given the increase in the activity of ICE agents (Immigration and Customs Control Service) seeking to arrest immigrants in Long Island, the vice president of the New York State Assembly, Phil Ramos, rejects and condemns this intensification of ICE operations that cause fear in neighborhoods and working communities and affect the separation of innocent families, many of them Hispanic origin.
In recent days, through publications, photos and videos exhibited in the social networks, Long Island residents and community leaders have reported the threatening presence of Ice giving up on streets, highways, businesses and houses located in places such as Brentwood, Wyandanch, Huntington Station, Westbury, Hempstead, Freeport, Copague, Bay Shore, etc.
In response to this escalation of anti -immigrants, assemblyman Ramos, who represents District 6, issued the following statement:
“This weekend, the United States – and the world – witnessed what we feared so much: the unbridled abuse of presidential power unleashed against color communities. Families are being separated. People are being arrested without explanations, without judicial orders and, too often, without due process. What remains is a trail of fear, deconsory and indignation.
These raids have devastated communities. Loved ones have disappeared in a legal limbo. The courts have begged federal authorities to stop several deportations, but those pleas have been ignored. Individuals who previously received protection are now sent back to places where their lives are in danger. The painful reality is this: we can no longer trust that this administration respects the law, obeys courts or valuing human dignity.
This crisis has eroded public trust, not only in ICE or the Executive Power, but on the same basis of our democracy. The legislative power remains silent. The Judiciary is being challenged. But the people get up – not in chaos, but in legitimate resistance.
In Los Angeles, and here in Long Island, NY, people march in defense of their families, their dignity and their right to live without fear. They rise against an authoritarian tide that gains strength every day. And when masked agents descend on our neighborhoods, kidnapping our loved ones and climbing tensions with military force, we must ask ourselves: What option does the people have apart from resisting?
Authoritarianism tools are fully functioning. While 1% of the population accumulates 99% of the country’s wealth, pollute our drinking water, erode our democracy and raise the cost of living to unbearable levels. They destroy our health system and dismantle the foundations of everyday life.
However, President Trump wants to believe that guilt does not fall on the powerful, but in the people who build our cities, harvest our food, cut our grass, wash our dishes and hold this country with honest and exhausting work.
These are not strange. They are our neighbors. They are our families. They are human beings.
We cannot be fooled by these cruel and calculated lies. We must reject this propaganda and tell the truth clearly: immigrants are not the problem, they are part of the solution.
The answer to this moment is no more violence. They are no more raid. They are no more troops. It’s no more fear.
The answer is responsibility.
The answer is decalled.
The answer is freedom.
The people demand the end of these raids. They demand justice. Many are willing to risk their own security to protect their families, because for them, this is a matter of life or death. Any American who creates in democracy must understand it. We must support the peaceful protest and demand the end of this fear campaign.
We are at a turning point in the history of our nation.
We must condemn the use of ICE and the National Guard as political tools, deployed by a president who thrives in hatred, division and fear, and that undermines constitutional rights and human dignity to obtain political profits. This is not leadership. This is cruelty disguised as politics.
I call on all the people who love freedom – democrats and republicans, black, white, Latin, Asian – to solidarity with our immigrant communities.
History has taught us a painful lesson: first they came for a group and remained silent. Then they came for others and nobody left to talk. We cannot – we must – turn their backs those who now suffer from these fascist attacks.
As I did when I faced injustice within the Police Department, and as I have done for more than 20 years as its assemblyman, I will not go back. I will not keep silent while my community is under attack. And I urge each elected official who truly creates in democracy to do the same. This is not the time for neutrality. This is the time to act. That the story records who was with the people and who was silent.
As the first Latin vice president of the New York State Assembly, and as the proud son of Puerto Rican parents, I say this with absolute clarity: this moment demands courage. It demands that we listen to the clamor of those who suffer and that we raise together in the spirit of non -violent resistance.
New York is a state of immigrants. The torch that the statue of freedom holds high is a symbol of hope and freedom, and we should never allow it to extinguish. This nation was built on immigrant backs. We must never forget that truth or abandon those who seek refuge today.
May God guide us in these times of struggle. But we should not retire. We must not stop
march.
As César Chávez did.
As did Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
As those did in Stonewall.
As those who rose after the murder of George Floyd did.
We must remain – brave and united – and demand change.
In solidarity,
Assemblyman Phil Ramos
Vice President of the Assembly
New York State – District 6 ».
