As Anti-Bias Task Force objects, Town Board members stand by statements
Members of the Riverhead Town Anti-Bias Task Force say recent comments made by some members of the Town Board may “undermine the work that we’re doing to try to bring the community together.”
But some of those members, including the liaison to that committee, stand by their statements, noting that they don’t want the town to be seen as a haven for anyone who comes into the country illegally.
At the Town Board’s meeting on Tuesday, Connie Lassandro, chair of the recently restarted Anti-Bias Task Force, called on the board to clarify their comments which were made in an article on RiverheadLocal.com, in which board members Jodi Giglio and John Dunleavy said the town should hold those wanted by federal immigration authorities to be interviewed.
Councilman George Gabrielsen suggested a further step, and advocated for town police to hold illegal immigrants for federal authorities if they’re stopped or pulled over.
The board members’ comments came in response to the fatal shooting of a San Francisco woman, allegedly by an immigrant with a “lengthy rap sheet” who was back in the country illegally after being deported several times, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
In the RiverheadLocal article, Councilman James Wooten said the police department is already too taxed to handle enforcing federal laws.
And under the law, Ms. Lassandro noted, no person — illegal immigrant or legal citizen — can be held against his or her will without a warrant.
“You can’t just say, ‘I’m going to have him arrested just because,’” she said. “You can’t assume and stereotype a certain nationality. It’s wrong.”
Town Supervisor Sean Walter said on Monday that changing the town’s police policy would open up questions of civil rights violations.
“In this country, regardless of your immigration status, we don’t lock people up without having probable cause or an arrest warrant,” Mr. Walter said. “This country is replete with negative history when we’ve done things like this. It’s not something I would like started in this town.”
He said the town “stands ready, willing, and able to work with federal immigration authorities,” though he added the government has shown a “complete disregard” for enforcing the rules already on the books.
The town’s current policy calls for those who are wanted on warrants to be held for further questioning. Immigration-specific warrants through the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Immigration and Customs Enforcement are referred to as “ICE holds.”
Those who don’t have a warrant can be held during the day, but will be released at night.
During a radio interview on WRIV 1390 last week, Ms. Giglio — who is running to replace Mr. Walter as Town Supervisor — said the board will discuss changing the town’s police policy to hold more illegal immigrants if they are identified.
“If the federal government wants to interview them, we need to figure out a way to hold them in a timely fashion and get the federal government here to interview them and either dismiss them or take them,” she said. “But we can’t just turn the other way.”
Ms. Giglio said she fears Riverhead Town may be developing a reputation as a haven for criminals. However, she said her comments were not biased or targeted toward any ethnic group.
“I’m not a racist,” she said in the interview. “[Criminals] can come from anywhere; it doesn’t matter where they come from, it doesn’t matter who they are. They need to be reported.”
On Monday, Mr. Gabrielsen clarified his stance to the News-Review. He said he’s primarily concerned with public safety, and wants to ensure that undocumented drivers who are accused of “decently major” crimes be handed over to federal authorities to prevent future offenses.
“America is a country of law and order,” he said. “I’m worried about stopping the next incident.”
He said his main frustration was with federal authorities, who he said don’t provide the town with enough guidance or resources to deal with undocumented immigrants.
Mr. Gabrielsen said his comments shouldn’t be interpreted as biased, saying he knows most Hispanic residents are law-abiding, good people.
“Spanish people are actually a religious people,” he said. “I definitely don’t have anything against making it work out with them. But we can’t do nothing. We can’t ignore [this].”
Congressman Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley) couldn’t be reached for comment. In the past, he had voiced opposition to the proposed federal DREAM Act, which would give some undocumented immigrants a path to citizenship.
Ms. Lassandro said she also supports holding those accused of criminal offenses, like robbery or assault, and was in favor of the police department’s current policies. Riverhead cops, she said, are doing it right.
“If they’re a criminal, legal [immigrant] or illegal, they should be detained,” she said.
But it’s the federal government’s responsibility to enforce immigration laws, Ms. Lassandro said.
She was concerned that a change in town policy could impact relationships with the legal immigrants in town.
“Riverhead is a melting pot,” she said. “We have many, many nationalities here. We’re trying to bring good feelings and harmony to the community.”
She adding the board members’ statements could encourage undocumented immigrants to avoid cooperating with authorities.
Mr. Gabrielsen later replied that he didn’t see how his view could affect that effort.
“Show me how law and order can hurt her conversation,” he said. “How is this message of law and order a bad message?”
Since Ms. Lassandro spoke before the Town Board Tuesday, no board member has contacted her, she said.
The board had unanimously approved jumpstarting the Anti-Bias Task Force last year in the wake of a series of assaults and robberies that largely targeted Hispanic and homeless people.
The task force, which had gone quiet for nearly a decade, was created to consider the “destructive effects of prejudice and racism” among communities in town, according to its mission statement.
Sister Margaret Smyth of the North Fork Spanish Apostolate, a member of the task force, said she was also discouraged by the comments.
“Crossing the border is the illegal action,” she said. “Now that they’re here, we don’t have the right to abuse them as a human being.”
Ms. Smyth, who helps undocumented immigrants get legal status, pay taxes and get medical assistance, said reports of gang activity in Riverhead are overblown. She believes the reported Hispanic gangs are “gang wannabes” and a select few with drinking problems generally fight amongst themselves.
That assessment stands in sharp contrast to reports from the county police’s anti-gang unit, which said Hispanic gangs are becoming more prevalent across Suffolk County.
In an interview with The Suffolk Times last October following Hispanic gang-related shootings in Riverhead and Southold, Sgt. Steven Lundquist with the Gang Intelligence Unit of the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office said gangs are moving further east to escape detection by police in towns farther west.
On Friday, Mr. Dunleavy — who serves as the liaison to the Anti-Bias Task Force — stood by his statements, saying he was concerned with the safety of Riverhead’s residents. He said he’s worked with the town’s Hispanic community before, handing out lunches near the railroad station.
“We don’t stop cars, we don’t ask for paperwork,” he continued. “I don’t want to be another San Francisco.”
Mr. Dunleavy said his comments were not inappropriate because he was not biased and was not talking about only Spanish-speaking immigrants when he made his remarks. He was more bothered by an online list generated by the Ohio Jobs & Justice PAC, a group that calls for stricter immigration enforcement that cites Riverhead Town as a so-called “sanctuary city” for illegal immigrants.
According to the group, the list was created in 2007 and includes towns and cities that have “unwritten” rules that allegedly protect undocumented immigrants.
“A local government’s … interaction with illegal aliens can evidence an unwritten sanctuary policy,” the group writes. Choosing to release suspected illegal immigrants who aren’t wanted on a warrant is one such interaction, according to the group.
Mr. Dunleavy said the Town Board never claimed the town was a sanctuary city. He’s trying to get the town removed from the list because he doesn’t want undocumented immigrants flocking to the town “thinking they can get away with anything.”
“We don’t know how legitimate this list is,” Mr. Dunleavy said. “I just want to be taken off the Internet.”
But Mr. Walter said the authenticity of the list some are fretting over is being blown out of context.
“We’re giving this guy way more ink than he’s worth,” he said of the group that published the list. “We’re no more a sanctuary city than any other city in the country.”
Ms. Giglio couldn’t be reached for comment.
Photo credits: Barbaraellen Koch, file