Long Island ICE boss defends surge in enforcement, masked agents while offering behind-the-scenes look at operations
With detentions surging, CBS News New York's Carolyn Gusoff went inside Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations on Long Island for a rare view of how, where and why arrests are made.
She got exclusive behind-the-scenes access to see how ICE operates locally.
ICE operation targets 3 men accused of violent crimes
Gusoff was invited to witness and document a targeted enforcement action with ICE before dawn at an undisclosed location in Nassau County, as well as question Long Island's ICE boss without any restrictions, except not to show the faces of officers involved.
The targets were three undocumented men living in Hempstead, accused of violent crimes.
Agents were briefed on each case before moving in.
"His wife and his kids, they're final orders, so if they're encountered at the scene, we can take them in," an agent said.
A final removal order means an immigration judge has already ordered deportation, so ICE is authorized to detain that person on sight.
Intel gathered from days of surveillance was shared with agents.
"He actually attacked somebody that was rendering aid to him," said Bryan Flanagan, ICE Assistant Field Office Director for Long Island.
Flanagan said their first target stabbed a nurse, yet walked free after his court appearance. New York law bars ICE from making an arrest inside the courtroom, so instead of taking him into custody there, agents now have to find him.
"That person is able to go back out onto the street, gives them another opportunity to victimize the community," Flanagan said.
Flanagan said that means more time, more resources and more risk.
For now, he's still on the loose. Agents trailed the wrong man from the house, so they let that man go.
What happens after ICE detains someone?
The next target was an undocumented man who pled guilty to assault with a box cutter.
"Once he gets in that vehicle and closes that door and starts it, we're going to effectuate," an agent said.
The ICE agents went on to arrest him.
The third target did not open the door, so ICE agents will have to return later.
After these arrests, we're told the detainee's data is entered into an online ICE locator within hours. They're allowed to make phone calls and within days will see an immigration judge.
"No one's being kidnapped," Flanagan said. "Anybody can go on there, put in their alien number, and see where they're at. And they can see where they're being transported to and where they are in real time. So, there's no kidnappings. People are going to be picked up if they haven't gotten their due process or exhausted it, they're going to be put before an immigration judge."
Long Island ICE boss defends surge in enforcement
ICE has detained more than 65,000 people nationwide this year, nearly twice as many as last year.
Despite multiple requests from CBS News New York, ICE said it could not at this time provide specific numbers on how many people the agency has arrested and detained this year on Long Island.
Flanagan said agents are out seven days a week and makes no apologies for the surge in enforcement.
"The border was essentially just wide open, so there's thousands, if not millions, of people that are here that we have no knowledge of," he said. "The border is secure now, so, you know, ICE's primary function is interior enforcement and that's what we are doing."
Gusoff asked about the majority of those detained – people with no criminal record, many with jobs, families and deep community ties. Those include a beloved Port Washington bagel store manager who overstayed his visa by decades, and teenage brothers in Central Islip who were brought to the United States as children and deported to El Salvador where they know no one.
"We have seen in my reporting on Long Island, people who have not been accused of a crime [being detained]," Gusoff said. "What is your criteria for who you are going after on these daily raids?"
"Well, anybody that's going to violate our nation's immigration laws and poses a threat to public safety and national security is going to be on our radar," Flanagan said. "Illegally entering the United States is a crime in itself."
"You just can't, you know, illegally or unlawfully enter the United States and think you can just stay here," Flanagan added. "There's a process for everybody. You can apply for asylum. You can apply for benefits. You know, if you come here on a visa and you overstay your visa, that's illegal."
"Do you guys have any discretion about it? Does humanity come into the decision, or are you strictly in the position of enforcing the nation's immigration laws?" Gusoff asked. "Personal hardship? If they fled violence? Gangs?"
"We look at all that. If somebody has, you know, a humanitarian need or a medical issue, if they're the sole caretaker or provider for somebody, those are all things that we look at," Flanagan said. "And we look at, like, mitigating as to the aggravating."
Decisions about who gets deported are up to a judge.
"We have nothing to do with it," Flanagan said. "We just totally identify, locate and arrest."
Why ICE agents wear masks
Gusoff questioned why ICE agents are often masked and sometimes not wearing clothing or badges marking them as ICE agents.
"Unfortunately, a lot of our agents are being doxxed. People are putting their information out on social media. They're making death threats," Flanagan said. "We're doing a job that we've been doing for years under many administrations, but unfortunately, they are being vilified ... It's really sickening, so it's done to protect the officer as well as his family members."
He added, "We're being vilified for doing our job, for enforcing laws that have been passed. And I think that's the hard part. And I think we take a lot of pride in ensuring that we keep the community safe."
Immigration attorney accuses ICE of trying to force self-deportations
Immigration attorney Ala Amoachi represents the teen brothers who've been waiting since March for a decision on their deportation and another Long Islander, a mother of five disabled children, who is now going on six months in ICE detention in Houston.
"They call them 'La Hieleras,' like, extremely, extremely cold," Amoachi said. "Always, like, inadequate food. They don't get changes of clothes on a regular basis. These kinds of conditions eventually, they become intolerable."
She added, "Their tactics are a strategy to basically cut down any kind of legal process."
Amoachi accuses ICE of trying to detain as many people as possible so they will self-deport.
"There's like a whole, like, propaganda project to dehumanize immigrants and kind of give the appearance that they're not really humans, like they're just like a sub-human class," she said.
Amoachi says she must now discuss self-deportation options with those who have cannot bear the family separations and fear.