By Christina Arlotta
A light mist hung in the air March 7 as demonstrators gathered along Fulton Avenue in Hempstead, the parking lot brightened by colorful signs, neon posters and waving flags. Protesters greeted one another with handshakes and embraces, forming clusters of conversation between chants of “The people united we’ll never be defeated” and “Say it once, say it twice, we will not put up with ICE.” Passing drivers honked in support, drawing cheers from the crowd that carried through the damp morning air.
The ICE Out/Fuera ICE protest began at 10 a.m. outside the Fulton Avenue Home Depot in Hempstead. After demonstrating outside the store, participants marched to Hempstead Village Hall to continue the protest. Organizers said the demonstration was intended to call attention to the unjust immigration enforcement practices affecting local communities. Among those speaking was Hazel Leon, a protest organizer and advocate from Freeport, who said many immigrant residents are living with growing fear.
“They’ve been [detaining] people going to work, those going to get breakfast or trying to provide for their family, just like anybody else here on Long Island,” Leon said. “We really just want to be able to live and thrive here, to support ourselves and our future generations and enjoy Long Island.”
Residents stood shoulder to shoulder, united by their calls for change. Calling it a serious injustice, Long Islanders said they are coming together not only to defend one another, but to protect the future they have built together.
The location of the protest was deliberate. Home Depot has long served as a location where day laborers seek work with contractors and homeowners. However, this visibility has also made such sites a frequent target for ICE activity.
In late May 2025, Stephen Miller, deputy chief of staff for policy and homeland security and adviser to the president, questioned top ICE officials, remarking, “Why aren’t you at Home Depot? Why aren’t you at 7-Eleven?”
While some stores across the country have responded with non-solicitation policies and increased security, others, including the Hempstead location, have largely remained silent. For Nadia Marin-Molina, co-executive director of the National Day Labor Organizing Network, the protest location represented a fight not only for day laborers but also for the broader immigrant community.
“It’s not just the day laborers. It’s also the contractors who buy from Home Depot. Everybody’s in danger when ICE is allowed to conduct racial profiling and brutalize people at will for no reason,” Marin-Molina said. “That’s basically what we’re saying and that’s why we began this march at the Home Depot, because it’s an important symbolic location and they need to know they can do much more.”
As the rally began to move from Home Depot to Hempstead Village Hall, the sharp sound of whistles cut through the air. At the start of the protest, participants were given whistle packets, each serving a purpose beyond just making noise.
Short bursts of three whistles signal that ICE is in the area, while one to three long blows indicate that someone is being detained, alerting local business owners and community members to proceed with caution.
“I’m really glad a lot of people are more taking to the whistle packets. It alerts the business owners to just be aware that ICE is trying to scoop people up,” Leon said. “It’s not left or right right now, it’s top versus bottom. Authoritarians thrive on fear, so when we push back, we’re closer to winning back our country that we deserve.”
Protesters stopped outside Hempstead Village Hall, continuing their chanting. Attendees were allowed to address the crowd, voicing their frustrations and demands. Some were directed at President Donald Trump and Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, criticizing their actions. Across the crowd, the message was clear: immigrants are welcome on Long Island.
Among those addressing the crowd was Katie Sandoval, a member of the Hempstead-based Central American Refugee Center.
“What we are seeing on Long Island right now is not justice,” Sandoval said. “Children are living in fear. Parents have to make the difficult decision to decide between simply feeding their families or living in invisibility, hiding every single day. We are here to continue fighting for them.”
“We really just want to be able to live and thrive here, to support ourselves and our future generations and enjoy Long Island. I think we all deserve that, and we all deserve the dignity to be able to achieve that.”
Hazel Leon
Hempstead was not the only Long Island community to host a demonstration that Saturday. At 2 p.m., another group of protesters gathered outside the Food Bazaar on Wicks Road in Brentwood. Similar to the previous event, participants eventually marched together to the Suffolk County Police Department’s Third Precinct to continue protesting. Turnout was smaller than in Hempstead, but the crowd was energetic, with the steady beat of drums and tambourines accompanying chants calling for change.
The Brentwood demonstration also highlighted international issues, particularly the violence affecting Palestine, Lebanon and Iran. One of the speakers, Noura, who did not wish to provide her last name, addressed the crowd and urged participants to remain committed to the cause.
“Standing against the ethnic cleansing that happened in Palestine is the way we can stand against what’s happening through Lebanon, and what’s spreading to Iran and what’s spreading here at home,” said Noura. “Now is not the time to lay down, to give up. Now is the time to rise up, to be stronger, to stand together. When we stand together, we are strong.”
For attendee Jill Hissong, a member of St. Anthony’s Solidarity Community, the issue was not about immigration enforcement itself, but the way it is currently being carried out.
“We want the government to control this, but the tactics right now are not just,” Hissong said. “I think we can expect our government to do two things at once. To help control the immigration process of the country, and do it justly.”
