North Shore Democrats Rally Against ICE Operations in Nassau County

Demonstrators gathered along Northern Boulevard in Manhasset on Saturday to call on local and federal officials to end cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to organizers.

The rally, titled “ICE Out for Good: Rally to De-ICE Nassau County,” took place at the northeast corner of Northern Boulevard and Port Washington Boulevard near the Whole Foods shopping center. A simultaneous sister protest occurred on Northern Boulevard and community Drive in front of Macy’s.

Several local Democratic clubs organized the event, including the Great Neck Democratic Club, the Manhasset Democratic Club, the Albertson/Herricks/New Hyde Park/East Williston/Williston Park Democratic Club and the Port Washington Democratic Club. Organizers emphasized nonviolent action and expected participants to act lawfully while avoiding confrontation.

Julie Appel, a member of the Port Washington Democratic Club, expressed satisfaction with the turnout.

“It’s very heartening to see so many of my neighbors come out and want to protest the injustices,” Appel said. She described concerns about what she called “undemocratic” and “anti-rule of law” actions and emphasized the importance of residents making their voices heard.

According to Appel, the North Shore rally drew inspiration from similar efforts on the South Shore.

Democratic Assembly candidate Kim Keiserman attended as a resident rather than in her campaign capacity.

“I’m here, really, as a citizen,” Keiserman said. “I think the people of Long Island are looking around at what’s happening across the country and what’s happening here, and they’re seeing that the answer is not mass deporting. The answer is comprehensive immigration reform that offers people a path to citizenship and that fixes our broken immigration system.”

Keiserman criticized current immigration enforcement methods, describing them as creating “chaos” and “cruelty.”

“We do not want to see masked, unidentified agents coming into our communities and dragging law-abiding, hardworking people out of their homes and out of courtrooms that they have entered in good faith,” she said. “That stokes fear in our communities. It hurts our economy. It undermines law enforcement and public safety. It separates families, it leaves children traumatized and impoverished, and it raises the specter of a police state in the United States.”

State Assembly Member Charles Levine also participated in the rally, drawing on his decades of activism experience.

“I’m almost 80 years old, and I’ve been through the civil rights movement, and I’ve been through the anti-war movement,” Levine said. “I never thought, or began to imagine, that today I would have to worry about the freedom of my children and my grandchildren. That’s why we are here.”

Levine connected current events to broader concerns about governance, stating “There is chaos. Trump equals chaos. He seems to thrive or enjoy chaos, and we must do what we can to make sure that the rights of Americans are protected.”

The assembly member expressed surprise at the demonstration’s size, saying he expected to see only 20 or 30 people but welcomed the larger turnout.

Students from the Nassau County High School Democrats also attended the rally. Victor Gao, a junior at Jericho High School and co-chair of Nassau County High School Democrats, attended with fellow student Tony Pan to encourage youth participation.

“We would just like to see more young people come out to these kind of rallies,” Gao said. “We’ve definitely heard a lot of passionate rhetoric in our school about ICE and ‘no kings’ and stuff like that, but we don’t see a lot of high schoolers out here.”

Pan, also a Jericho High School junior, noted the significance of strong participation on Long Island.

“Especially on Long Island, I feel like there’s more of a conservative aspect to it, but it’s always great to see a bunch of our seniors always showing up,” Pan said.