Albany, New York – New York State Assemblymember Charles Lavine (D-North Shore) has issued the following statement regarding the escalation of ICE activity in Nassau County:

“I learned ICE was in Glen Cove today, as they were yesterday in Westbury. They were involved in an auto accident in Westbury and presented themselves near the Park Avenue Elementary School. The sudden presence of an armed and masked military force in Westbury resulted in a community response in which residents expressed anger over an obviously excessive and aggressive display of force. You and I would feel the same disgust if they descended on our neighborhood. This is now happening in my hometown of Glen Cove. Trump and ICE’s ham-handed approach, purportedly designed to rid us of criminals, has instead turned into an unjustified show of brute force. The resulting intimidation and threat to the peace and safety of our communities and the resultant frightening of our children is crudely un-American. I emailed Glen Cove’s mayor this morning expressing my grave concern.”