• 2025-12-31 23:12:05
• Gun Violence

PATCHOGUE, NY — This holiday season, Main Street in Patchogue Village was bustling with activity.

Shoppers buying gifts and then grabbing bites in restaurants.

It was business as usual.

Despite the appearance of a relaxed atmosphere, there was an undercurrent of unease as the new year loomed, and residents grappled with the federal government's change in immigration policy, including a crackdown on the undocumented that has left many in the immigrant community in fear, advocates say.

In past weeks, United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have been spotted, and one case on Dec. 17, a man was detained outside of a market on Main Street, according to a video circulated on social media.

The market's manager told

ICE's media office has not responded to Patch regarding the presence of its agents in the area that day.

In a previous correspondence, a rep told Patch that it would be difficult to look into without more information, such as name, date of birth, and address of the person involved. That is a similar practice used by local law enforcement to aid the media in obtaining more information about an incident because a name can be researched.

There have been seven sightings reported to

One each of sightings have been reported also in Ronkonkoma, Port Jefferson Station, Rocky Point, Coram, Holtsville, and on William Floyd Parkway, which runs from the Mastic-Shirley Peninsula in the south to Rocky Point on the North Shore.

The largest number of sightings close to Patchogue is 10 in nearby Farmingville, and across Long Island, the three largest number of sightings have been 74 in Brentwood, 44 in Central Islip, and 23 in Hempstead.

For some, seven sightings in the 2.3-square-mile Village of Patchogue, which has around 12,000 residents, 23 percent of whom are Hispanic, is too many.

In the late 90s, there was an economic downturn, and many shops in the village closed, while its main shopping district lacked infrastructure to keep it going. It was referred to as a ghost town by many.

Then in 2008, a young Ecuadorian man, Marcelo Lucero, investigators say, was targeted by a group of teenagers who beat and stabbed him, and then left him to die. The haunting tale grabbed national headlines, drawing attention to negative race relations on Long Island.

But in the close to 20 years since Lucero's death, the village has been built back up economically, structurally, and, in a way, spiritually. Investors and government grants paved the way for a lively Main Street with new apartments, eclectic shops, and a plethora of restaurants, not to mention a solid focus on an arts and entertainment scene.

Central to the arts scene are the Patchogue Theatre for the Performing Arts, the Plaza Media Arts Center, and ArtSpace, an apartment complex with live/work units for artists, musicians, and writers, as well as several live music venues, including Stereo Garden, 89 North, and Daisy's Nashville Lounge.

The village long-associated with Irish and Italians, two groups that recognize their own feast days of St. Patrick and St. Liberata, now also recognizes newer members of the community. In 2022,

The following year, in 2023, the first

Patchogue has risen from the ashes, becoming a vibrant, diverse community, including a large population of Ecuadorians who live and work in the village.

The rising seems bittersweet these days.

Fear Has People 'Running Scared'

Reports of ICE sightings have

"To rattle that community, it just bothers me," he said. "People are running scared, and I wish I could do more about it, but I don't think I can."

Despite the widespread fear, Pontieri said the reports of immigration agents have not been aired publicly at the Board of Trustees' meetings.

Instead, it's been done more quietly, often with anecdotes traveling by word of mouth, or shared in private with Pontieri and others.

For Pontieri, at his level of government, he does not have any control of what the federal government does, he said, adding that the situation begs the question "of how the village can protect its residents.

Residents Are Changing Their Routines

In 2022, the village made another stride toward healing in the election of its first Hispanic representative to the Board of Trustees, Lizbeth Carrillo, who came to the U.S. as child with her family from Ecuador.

Carrillo says stories of immigration concerns affecting residents have also been shared with her.

Some of the stories concern people accused of crimes — some "horrific," and she does not object to those arrests.

Other stories are about people whose only crime is that they are undocumented.

Carrillo and other advocates are promoting that parents get their documentation up to date so that, just in case there's an emergency, or just in case the parents are deported, and they want their children with them, they can go without hesitation.

It is not only has the undocumented in fear, but Latinos who are green card holders and have legal status are now also nervous, according to Carrillo.

"Businesses have felt the drop of the economy from the undocumented community, because everyone is, in a way, on alert," she said. "They're trying to save their money. They're living in fear, day-by-day, not knowing what their future will hold."

Carrillo hopes that ICE focuses on convicted criminals, rather than the undocumented, because the toll on innocent families can be "huge."

"We're talking about innocent children that are now suffering by having a parent taken away," she added.

A Safe Harbor During An 'Unprecedented Time'

The Patchogue-based non-profit, SEPA Mujer, an acronym for

The majority of its recipients are victims of crime, like sexual assault, domestic violence, and human trafficking, as well as gender violence. The geographic range encompasses about 238 families, including 480 children, from Huntington Station to Riverhead.

Its executive director, Martha Maffei, says some recipients of assistance are so fearful of being deported that they will not leave their houses, not even to go to work, so volunteers are delivering their groceries and making sure they have all they need.

Many families are feeling vulnerable this season, she says.

To empower the community, SEPA Mujer is promoting workshops and educating residents on the group's offered services, as well as have conversations with them about their rights and a safety plan, like who will take care of their children if ICE arrests them.

The group's volunteers also teach English classes, as well as about obtaining documentation and requesting records under Freedom of Information Law, and there is a 24-hour hotline that operates seven days a week in Spanish that residents can call for help.

It proved to be a busy holiday season for SEPA Mujer, but no real increase in demand, and the group proceeded with its annual dinner giveaway providing around 300 meals for families the week of Christmas, as a well as a breakfast event.

There was, however, the challenge that volunteers had to watch for ICE this year.

"We train them," Maffei said. "They have to use the whistle, so if they see the presence of ICE, they can notify us."

For those unable to attend the event, volunteers delivered to their homes.

"This work is very important right now, because people are really debating if they go out to the grocery store grocery shopping," she said, adding that they question their safety. "And that is so unfair, because, like everybody here, every human should be able to have the freedom to go to get what they need."

"But unfortunately, they are not," she added.

In the new year, SEPA Mujer will be providing healing circles, which could be in-person or remote.

"This mental health crisis that we are living right now is really unprecedented," Maffei said, adding that the group also provides referrals for therapy and social workers.

Concerns About The Reporting Of Emergencies

Suffolk Legis. Dominick Thorne, whose district includes Patchogue, said his office has also heard reports of ICE sightings and said he is against people being randomly stopped without cause.

"But, if you are believed to be a criminal, you should be apprehended," he said.

He also noted that he has concerns about residents not calling the county's 911 system, which has bi-lingual access, to report an emergency due to fear that the police department, ambulance, and fire departments collaborate with ICE.

He noted that the police will always respond to back up another agency with help, but there is no collaboration with ICE, as they are separate agencies from separate governments.

He noted that last week, his office was coordinating a Christmas drive for a church with a Hispanic congregation, and it was short about 20 gifts for the children, so he reached out to the 5th Precinct's Community Oriented Police Enforcement Unit for help.

The unit provided around double the amount.

Thorne, who is also a first responder with South Country Ambulance, explained that ambulance companies and fire departments also do not collaborate with ICE due to the same reason of being operated by separate governments.

It is unknown whether residents have bypassed the 911 system and sought medical help by going to the local emergency department at NYU Langone Hospital-Suffolk in East Patchogue, according to Thorne.

It's something he hopes does not happen, though.

"To use the 911 service, it doesn't matter where you live or the language you speak," he added.

Lawmaker Speaks Of Concerns For ICE Agents' Safety

State Sen. Dean Murray, who represents Patchogue, as well as other areas where ICE has been seen, rejected any notion that the agency is going around scooping people up off the streets without cause. That said, he did note that if someone enters the country illegally, they can be deported based on an order from a judge, and that order can be enforced by an ICE agent.

Agents might not always be in an area to make an arrest, and if they approach someone, it could be because they have questions about someone else.

"I have very big concerns about ICE agents being made out to be the bad guys," he said. "They are carrying out and enforcing the law of our land — it is that simple."

He also took issue with attacks on the agents for wearing masks because it is likely to protect their identity because they don't want their families to be placed in danger.

Murray "100 percent" supports accountability for agents if there is any wrongdoing.

"But, I don't think you should go with the assumption that they are wrong because they are ICE," he added.

Moving Forward Into The New Year, Questions Remain

Maffei aired similar concerns to those of Thorne's, saying crime victims might be reticent to report a crime for fear the authorities will come after them, so she wants to get the word out that laws protect crime victims.

"If you are a victim, there is a law that protects you, so you don't have to live in fear of abuse," she said, adding, there are services available and representation. "Right now, is very difficult to say that, because even survivors are afraid to speak up."

As for the village, the status is so far, so good as can be.

To date, ICE agents have not showed up at Village Hall, but Pontieri has been notified they have showed up elsewhere.

"I get phone calls from the different agencies, " he said, adding, "'They're here. What should we do?' I don't have a lot of advice I can give."

He's been asked to intervene, but he can't.

"We can't interfere with the ICE agents, with what they've been directed to do," he said. "Do I agree with it? Absolutely not. I think it's done in the wrong manner."

"That being said, it's not my job to make that decision, unfortunately," he added.

In the meantime, Carrillo says people are continuing to do their best to help in any way they can.

To make the Christmas season "a little brighter," a loosely-formed group of community members adopted about 10 families suffering dealing with the effects of immigration, Carillo said.

"For Christmas, we're just getting them everything that they need, because their whole world just turned," she said, adding that usually, the main provider is involved, and a spouse is left paying rent and all the bills.

"For me, the children break my heart," she said. "I want the children to know that there is a community behind you. There is support behind you."