Laura Curran announced late Monday afternoon that she was dropping her plan to move ICE onto the grounds of Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow. Curran had stirred outrage among Long Islanders with her announcement a week ago that ICE would be relocated to a county building less than one hundred yards from the public hospital. Health care professionals, immigrant rights groups, and unions were joined by many members of the public in condemning her inviting ICE to the medical center.
Curran acknowledged the impact of people contacting her. She said that her change of heart was “based on the concerns I’ve heard over the past few days about ICE using a temporary location at one of NUMC’s extra buildings. Community groups contacted me to say the move might impact access to healthcare.”
While ICE will not be moved to the hospital, not all of the news was good. Curran said that she spoke to ICE and “We agreed that personnel will remain at their current location in the trailer at the jail, pending their proposal for a new trailer away from the visitors’ center.” This is not a good decision. It continues to tie ICE to local law enforcement in the minds of many in the immigrant community.
Please call Curran on Tuesday and tell her ICE does not belong at the jail. Her phone number is 516-571-3131.
ICE is a Federal agency with a budget of its own. The county has no responsibility to find ICE an office on county property.
