Overview

• On June 3 in Westbury, ICE agents stopped 23-year-old Elzon Lemus, a Hispanic U.S. citizen, held him in handcuffs for roughly 20 minutes without reasonable suspicion and searched him before finding his ID.
• Lemus recorded agents telling him he “looks like someone we’re looking for,” seizing his phone to stop the recording and rifling through his pockets to confirm his identity.
• Nassau County police disavowed any involvement, directed inquiries to ICE, which has not commented, and operate under a March agreement that deputized 10 county officers to assist in immigration enforcement.
• Civil rights attorney Fred Brewington has also demanded that federal officials identify the agents involved in the stop and release their disciplinary records.
• Advocates are pushing state legislators to pass the New York for All Act, which would bar local authorities from collaborating with ICE and prohibit police from asking about immigration status.