Immigration and Customs Enforcement told police in Nassau County, New York (on Long Island) that they needed support for a raid of immigrant gang members. The local authorities agreed to participate. But as Newsday reports, the New York cops were shocked by what they say they saw last week: Federal agents wearing cowoby hats and mistakenly aiming their guns at county police officers, using photographs of a seven-year old child born in 1979 to track down a now-adult suspect, and a final arrest count of 158 people — only 59 of whom had criminal records, and only 3 of whom were affiliated with gangs.
Long Island hasn’t always been known for friendly relationships between natives and undocumented immigrants. The presence of day-laborers in many suburban towns has been particularly controversial. But kudos to the county cops for publicly telling the story of what they saw on these ideologically-motivated raids.
–Dana Goldstein
