Rally Planned In Huntington Over ICE Funding, Federal Budget Vote

MELVILLE, NY — A rally focused on Immigration and Customs Enforcement funding is planned Wednesday morning in Huntington, with organizers saying the event is intended to reinforce U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer’s opposition to current federal immigration enforcement practices as Congress approaches a budget deadline.

Borecky said the rally came together quickly in response to recent fatal encounters involving federal immigration agents in Minneapolis, including the deaths of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti, both U.S. citizens. She said Pretti’s death, which occurred weeks after Good was killed, further intensified concerns.

“People are very much upset with what ICE is doing, not only to citizens, but last year they killed 37 immigrants, and this year another six immigrants besides the two,” Borecky said. “It’s really out of control.”

What’s happening in Minnesota is appalling—and unacceptable in any American city. Democrats sought common sense reforms in the Department of Homeland Security spending bill, but because of Republicans’ refusal to stand up to President Trump, the DHS bill is woefully inadequate to…
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) January 24, 2026

The protest is scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 28, from 10 to 11 a.m. near 145 Pinelawn Road in Melville and is being organized by the Bellmore Merrick Democratic Club, according to club President Claudia Borecky.

Organizers said the rally is aimed at supporting passage of a full-year Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2026, rather than a short-term continuing resolution, which they argue would leave ICE funding unchanged.

The House version of the bill would reduce funding for ICE enforcement and removal operations by $115 million, cut the number of ICE detention beds by 5,500 and expand federal oversight, according to bill text released Jan. 20. Allowing a continuing resolution instead would keep ICE funding at current levels and allow the agency to continue operating without those reductions or added oversight, organizers said.

Borecky said members of the club’s immigration committee and rapid response teams have been closely monitoring ICE activity, including on Long Island, where she said what she has witnessed locally has been deeply troubling.

She said she had not previously opposed the existence of ICE but believes the agency’s expansion and enforcement tactics have become increasingly aggressive and unaccountable.

“I was never one to believe there shouldn’t be ICE at all,” Borecky said. “But at this point, it’s so out of control and lawless that it has to stop completely. We are urging Senator Schumer, as leader, to make sure he can get enough votes so this will pass — not just Democratic votes, but Republican votes too. This can’t go on the way it is now.”

Borecky also referenced the separate death of an individual in a large jail facility, saying questions surrounding that case remain unanswered.

“We still haven’t gotten the report on how that happened, which was way past the deadline needing to be reported on,” she said. “There are things happening behind the scenes that not a lot of people know about.”

Asked about the two Minnesota incidents — the Jan. 7 killing of Good and the weekend shooting of Pretti — Borecky said Good’s death hit particularly close to home.

“After the first one with Renee Good, that upset me tremendously,” she said. “Any one of us could have been Renee Good, because we were all going to ICE, documenting ICE encounters. So it could have been any one of us. I hate to say it, but I think it’s because they’re U.S. citizens that it’s getting a lot of attention.”

Borecky said local police departments — not ICE — are responsible for maintaining public safety.

“Nassau County is rated as being the safest county in the country,” she said. “We have the best police force. Suffolk too. They’re making these arrests. ICE is not making arrests.”

Borecky said normalizing harsh government responses and labeling protesters as ‘domestic terrorists’ risks undermining democratic rights.

“If we don’t stop it now, in three years it’ll be too late,” she said.

The rally is open to the public, organizers said.