One woman who grew up in Islip asked the board to “discontinue their agreement” with the Department of Homeland that allows ICE to practice at the rifle range.
“Because of the change in the nature of their activities lately, it’s terrorizing our community, and we shouldn’t support them,” she said.
Other speakers cited ICE’s detention of “innocent” immigrants and the lack of trust it leads to within communities, such as reduced crimes being reported and a lack of help requested for emergency services.
A young man named Joshua Chan spoke on behalf of a community “living in constant fear” of being ripped away from their families and children, and begged the board to “imagine if it was their family on the line.”
“Would you stay silent? Would you allow your town to be complicit in this? Right now, the Town of Islip is complicit,” Chan said. “By continuing the contract allowing ICE to use our public gun range as a training facility, this town is giving permission for agents to train with their guns, training to simulate real-life scenarios where they hunt and target people just like us. We are being hunted in our own neighborhoods, and our town is allowing it.”
Near the end of the meeting, Guadron asked permission to read the resolution allowed to “put it on record.”
Carpenter approved his request and insisted he “read the resolution quickly.”
As soon as Guadron finished, Carpenter said, “Motion fails.”
Immediately, a meeting that demonstrated compassion and neighborly support for two hours ended with a distressed crowd chanting “shame on you” at the board.
Patch reached out to Guadron and Supervisor Angie Carpenter, who were not immediately available for comment.
Guadron’s effort comes weeks after ICE agents were seen training at the Town of Islip’s Rifle, Pistol and Archery Range on July 16.
The requests to cancel the contract weren’t the first the town board had heard since the training set ignited fear and anger in the Islip community.
On Sunday, around 150 people rallied against ICE’s use of the rifle range in front of Islip Town Hall at a protest organized by community advocacy group Islip Forward, the Long Island Progressive Coalition, Together Long Island, Suffolk County Working Families Party, Town of Islip Democrats and the North Islip Democratic Club.
After the agents were seen using the facility in July, elected officials and other organizations spoke out regarding the training session, which, according to documents viewed by Patch, is part of a five-year contract allowing ICE agents to train at the facility.
According to the documents, the contract began on July 1, 2021, runs through June 30, 2026, and cites the Department of Homeland Security as the awarding agency and the Town of Islip as the recipient.
In addition, the “current award amount” is $63,000, with an “outlayed amount” of $22,725.
Assemblyman Phil Ramos and Guadrón both issued statements regarding the contract shortly after the July training took place.
While Ramos said he was “deeply disappointed that such a decision was made in a community that proudly holds the highest concentration of Hispanic taxpayers in New York State outside of New York City,” he also said that he is “not aware of the full status” of the agreement, and has requested clarification from the town.
Guadrón also took to social media, addressing “increasing rumors” that the town has allowed the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, to use the range “as its operations center.”
The councilman said that while the town has allowed ICE to utilize the facility since the early 2000s, it is for “training purposes only” and it is “not where ICE operates.”
Like Ramos, Guadrón said he doesn’t know the “full extent or details of this agreement” and has also “requested clarifications from the pertinent offices.”
The same day, Islip officials issued a statement, saying: “An Important Message from Supervisor Carpenter and the Islip Town Board.
“We would like to clarify some misinformation that has been spreading on social media regarding the Town of Islip’s rifle range. It has been the practice since at least the early 2000s, that the Town of Islip has signed agreements to allow the Department of Homeland Security, which Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) falls under, to allow for the use of the town’s rifle range for training, qualification and certification purposes.
“The town’s rifle range is one of the very few such facilities on Long Island and serves a vital role in the training of individuals from law enforcement agencies including but not limited to Nassau County Police, Sheriffs and DA, Fire Island National Seashore, Amtrak, DMV, Suffolk Courts, U.S. Treasury, Farmingdale Police Department and the NYS Park Police. These partnerships help to ensure the safe use of firearms and proper training.
“Those attempting to politicize this matter are unnecessarily causing more distrust of our law enforcement agencies, especially in communities that are already vulnerable and underreporting crimes. The safety and protection of all of our residents, despite race, religion or Country of origin, remains our utmost concern,” Town of Islip officials wrote.
The controversy surrounding the rifle range is one of the latest regarding ICE’s use of town property, after ICE agents were seen organizing in the Brentwood Fire Department’s parking lot of its Broadway location in the predominantly Latino community of Brentwood, located in the Town of Islip.
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