• 2026-01-26 18:41:05
• Gun Violence

MELVILLE, NY — A rally calling on U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer to reduce funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement is planned Wednesday morning in Huntington, according to organizers.

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

Organizers say the rally is urging U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer to support passage of the full-year

The House

Organizers argue that 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.

Borecky said the rally came together quickly in response to recent fatal encounters involving federal immigration agents in Minneapolis, including the deaths of

"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."

Borecky said members of her 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."

She also referenced the separate

"We still haven't gotten the report on how that happened, which was way past the deadline needing to be reported on," Borecky said. "There's 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 the first death hit particularly close to home.

"After the first one with Renee Good, that upset me tremendously," she said. "Anyone 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 keeping communities safe.

"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."

The rally is open to the public, organizers said.