STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 Reports of United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Port Richmond Saturday prompted local advocacy group La Colmena to organize a walk-through of the area the following morning.<\/p>\n
At 7 a.m. Sunday, the group gathered to conduct an \u201cICE Watch\u201d event to monitor the area for three hours. The event spread quickly on social media, with La Colmena\u2019s post garnering over two dozen shares on Facebook by 8 a.m.<\/p>\n
According to La Colmena\u2019s Executive Director Yesenia Mata, Port Richmond residents\u2019 anxiety has escalated following reported ICE agent activity in the neighborhood on Saturday.<\/p>\n
The group\u2019s walkthrough aimed to monitor Port Richmond Avenue for the potential return of federal agents to the area, Mata explained. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re distributing information and encouraging people to report ICE sightings to La Colmena on Facebook,\u201d Mata explained. \u201cOur goal today is to demonstrate how quickly we responded to ICE being in plain sight yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"NWS](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/F4MHREXBBJEYXJEW33MR2TNXJY.jpg\")
Reports of ICE agents in Port Richmond Saturday prompted local advocacy group La Colmena to organize a walk-through Sunday morning. The effort aimed to monitor the area for any potential return of federal agents. Advance\/SILive.com | Shaina McLawrence<\/p>\n
Port Richmond is home to a predominantly Latino immigrant community so, when ICE agents reportedly came to the area on Saturday in three cars Mata said the agency was likely testing the area.<\/p>\n
\u201cThrough this outreach we\u2019re sending the message that we\u2019re ready and organized,\u201d Mata declared. \u201cWe\u2019re letting the community know they\u2019re not alone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mata said she has received numerous messages from community members who have expressed concern about governmental plans to possibly use Fort Wadsworth as an ICE detention facility. <\/a><\/p>\n \u201cA community member just told us his friend was detained after being pulled over, even though everything in the car was valid,\u201d La Colmena volunteer Cesar Vargas said. \u201cThis type of information helps us understand ICE\u2019s tactics and operations. We\u2019re documenting these incidents for current and future litigation purposes. Courts are already releasing some people because of ICE\u2019s unlawful detention and holding practices.\u201d<\/p>\n In response to growing community concerns, La Colmena has made a firm commitment to protest the establishment of an ICE facility in the borough and to keep the community fully informed of all developments.<\/p>\n Port Richmond residents thanked La Colmena activists during the outreach efforts.<\/p>\n Mata said community members expressed gratitude for her organization\u2019s efforts to keep ICE at bay, noting that seeing La Colmena\u2019s boots-on-the-ground effort brought them a sense of peace. The La Colmena team had the chance to educate the residents about their rights if they should encounter ICE in the future. <\/p>\n Although La Colmena began ICE watches in 2016 during Trump\u2019s first term, the activists, including U.S. citizens, now carry their passports for proof of citizenship while participating in \u201cICE Watch\u201d activities. <\/p>\n Mata, a member of the Army Reserves<\/a>, considered carrying her military tags for identification during the patrol. <\/p>\n Mata stressed that ICE does not exclusively target non-citizens.<\/p>\n In October, an Alabama construction worker who is a United States citizen said he was arrested twice by federal immigration agents<\/a> who claimed his driver\u2019s license was fake.<\/p>\n Mata delivered a pointed warning to residents of Staten Island who may hold anti-immigrant views: It could be you, too. <\/p>\n \u201cFor those that are here on the Island that are against immigrants, keep in mind that your own privilege of being a U.S. citizen doesn\u2019t cover you now that citizens are being taken away too,\u201d Mata said.<\/p>\n The group hopes that organizing protests and patrolling the streets for ICE brings a sense of peace and collective strength to Islanders frightened by the agency\u2019s presence.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThis is why ICE Watch remains here,\u201d she said. \u201cWe want to show that Staten Island\u2019s immigrant community is prepared. We will alert our community when ICE is present, and we are not afraid. We saw what happened in Chicago, and we will not allow that in our neighborhoods.\u201d<\/p>\n The Welcoming Staten Island Initiative has bought together a network of organizations to protect and inform immigrant families of ICE activity, Mata said. <\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve been organizing since January<\/a>, which is why we were able to respond so quickly when ICE was spotted,\u201d Mata explained. \u201cOur established organization made it easy to know exactly what needed to be done and mobilize rapidly.\u201d<\/p>\n The coalition is building emergency response systems, offering legal education and advocating for immigrant rights.<\/p>\n Allies who are U.S. citizens are learning how to document ICE encounters for legal use and how to remain disciplined during potential crackdowns. Volunteers are drawing lessons from areas such as Chicago, where confrontations escalated.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re going to try to provoke you, throw tear gas, push you, but you can\u2019t take the bait,\u201d said Mata. \u201cIf you do, they\u2019ll use it against you\u2014they\u2019ll say, \u2018Look how violent they are, we need to deploy the National Guard.\u2019”<\/p>\n Through the Welcoming Staten Island initiative, Mata has been able to help organize a network of schools, churches, businesses and individuals to combat ICE agents in the borough. <\/p>\n If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement<\/a> and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and\/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 Reports of United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Port Richmond Saturday prompted…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":41606,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":["post-41605","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-staten-island","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-staten-island","tag-staten-island-headlines","tag-staten-island-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41605","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41605"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41605\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"NWS](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/HB7O77WC2ZGJTD3DOQD5HPJM5E.jpg\")
Reports of ICE agents in Port Richmond Saturday prompted local advocacy group La Colmena to organize a walk-through Sunday morning. The effort aims to monitor the area for any potential return of federal agents.Advance\/SILive.com | Shaina McLawrence<\/p>\n![\"NWS](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/XWH5A2UOONC47D6YC6TJ7MQ54A.jpg\")
– Reports of ICE agents in Port Richmond prompted local advocacy group La Colmena to organize a walk-through tomorrow morning. The effort aims to monitor the area for any potential return of federal agents. Advance\/SILive.com | Shaina McLawrenceAdvance\/SILive.com | Shaina McLawrence<\/p>\n![\"NWS](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/JPK5ITTCBRHXNKXBNLQL75YJM4.jpg\")
Reports of ICE agents in Port Richmond prompted local advocacy group La Colmena to organize a walk-through tomorrow morning. The effort aims to monitor the area for any potential return of federal agents. Yesenia MataYesenia Mata<\/p>\n![\"NWS](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ETSVEE4MVVC43FZBKZ7UJJ5HXM.jpg\")
Reports of ICE agents in Port Richmond prompted local advocacy group La Colmena to organize a walk-through tomorrow morning. The effort aims to monitor the area for any potential return of federal agents. Yesenia MataYesenia MataWelcoming Staten Island initiative<\/p>\n![\"NWS](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/VTBOWK6OIRGTXFJIV6YRC2RGAU.jpg\")
– La Colmena led an ICE Watch walk in Port Richmond early Sunday morning. Organizers said the move followed sightings of immigration enforcement agents earlier in the week. Advance\/SILive.com | Shaina McLawrenceAdvance\/SILive.com | Shaina McLawrence<\/p>\n