Residents of affluential East Hampton town are in a frenzy over President Donald Trump’s sweeping deportation program, which could see their undocumented landscapers and nannies kicked out of the country.
Trump vowed when he entered office for a second term on Jan. 20 to “begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came.”
He has made cracking down on immigration a top priority and swiftly signed executive orders that would grant Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents the right to carry out raids in places that were previously untouchable, including hospitals, schools, and churches.
In a panicked meeting held on Tuesday, local officials spoke on the president’s mass deportation order, assuring wealthy residents that police officers wouldn’t assist federal ICE agents in detaining their hired help, the East Hampton Star reported.
“The only way any of my officers could ever enforce federal immigration law is if they were deputized,” East Hampton Town Police Chief Michael Sarlo said. “The town board would not allow any of our officers to be deputized.”
Alex Verdugo, the owner of Climbers Tree Care Specialists—which offers services such as hedge-pruning and tree-cutting in the ritzy area—said he had concerns about how to protect his workers in the event ICE agents attempt to conduct arrests.
An overwhelmed migrant, Daniela Rivas, told the town board meeting: “It’s really hard for me when my 10-year-old daughter asked me, ‘Mom, are you legal?’ I’m sure this place would be full of people but they’re scared.”
Trump frequented the Hamptons for two separate fundraising events for his presidencies—in 2019 and again in August last year, when he brought the area to a standstill as wealthy donors flocked in. Bloomberg reported that Trump hoped to raise $10 million at that event.
“Whatever trepidations the Hamptons finance set had about Trump are melting like frozé in the sun,” communications strategist James McCarthy said in a text message to the Daily Beast at the time as he sat poolside at his home less than a mile from the Trump fundraiser.
Since Trump took office more than two weeks ago, some 8,000 arrests have been made by federal immigration authorities—a figure the White House isn’t satisfied with, according to CNN.
ICE is “treading water,” a Trump administration official told the news outlet. “They’re way behind.”
