'Our Immigrant Neighbors Need Us:' Anti-ICE Protest To Be Held In Glen Cove On Monday

GLEN COVE, NY — Activists are taking a stand in response to another person dying after an encounter with federal U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in Minneapolis, and against Congressman Tom Suozzi's recent funding to support ICE.

Alex Pretti, 37, was shot and killed by federal law enforcement on Jan. 24 in Minneapolis, the same month that Renee Nicole Good was killed. Suozzi has recently supported a Department of Homeland Security spending bill, according to Newsday. Suozzi said that the $64 billion bill involves more than funding for ICE, Newsday reported, but Long Islanders are voicing their outrage over Suozzi's role in the bill. Suozzi has since apologized for his part in the bill, sharing on Facebook:

"I failed to view the DHS funding vote as a referendum on the illegal and immoral conduct of ICE in Minneapolis. I hear the anger from my constituents, and I take responsibility for that. I have long been critical of ICE’s unlawful behavior, and I must do a better job demonstrating that.

The senseless and tragic murder of Alex Pretti underscores what happens when untrained federal agents operate without accountability. President Trump must immediately end 'Operation Metro Surge' and ICE’s occupation of Minneapolis that has sown chaos, led to tragedy, and undermined experienced local law enforcement."

An anti-ICE rally will take place on Feb. 2 outside the congressman's office in Glen Cove, organized by Show Up Long Island.

Co-founder of Show Up LI, Halle Brenner, said the upcoming rally will be a peaceful protest aimed at telling Suozzi that her members do not support his decision to vote for a bill that would increase funding for ICE. Brenner said she appreciated Suozzi's apology for not realizing that some viewed the vote as a referendum on ICE, but questioned how he failed to see that before voting.

"We also don't understand why angry constituents had to explain that to him," she said. "He is watching and reading the same news as we are. Why did Congressman Suozzi need us to tell him that voting to give this agency more money was wrong?"

She added that her organization hopes Suozzi will next time vote to defund ICE. Suozzi has not immediately responded to Patch's request for comment.

"We ask Congressman Suozzi to recognize that history will not look kindly on anyone who stood by when our democracy, our people were threatened by authoritarians," she said. "We need to start over with an immigration system that values the dignity in all human life and is worthy of the world’s oldest democracy."

Brenner criticized ICE’s enforcement practices, saying the agency has not acted as it claimed it would.

"They did not go after the worst of the worst criminals," she said. "That was a lie. This is not a problem that can be fixed with more training. The Trump administration is targeting brown and black people. They are detaining American citizens and demanding to see papers, like we already live under a dictatorship. They are trampling our rights as they go after people simply exercising their right to protest, which is guaranteed by our Constitution."

Brenner said she wants to support her Long Island neighbors, as well as those across the nation.

"It’s important to raise awareness now because our country needs us," she said. "Our immigrant neighbors need us. It’s time to grow our patriotic and nonviolent movement to a point where it simply can’t be ignored. People feel helpless these days. We are here to offer people an alternative to despair."

There have been multiple rallies and protests across Long Island in the month of January, and the East Northport resident said she could not sit idly by.

"As a child, I always wondered what ordinary people were doing when horrible things happened in history," she said. "Did they have the courage to do the right thing? Did they bear witness and try to help? This is our time. Someday, our children and grandchildren will wonder the same things about us."

The rally will be on Monday, Feb. 2, at 11:30 a.m. at Congressman Suozzi's Office, located at 51 Gen St. in Glen Cove. Anyone who believes what ICE is doing is wrong is invited to attend the rally, but Brenner asks that all participants adhere to their principles of nonviolence and respect.