Dozens of people demonstrated in Great Neck against the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy and the separation of families at the southern border on a hot Saturday afternoon, in solidarity with hundreds of protests going on across the country and Long Island.
Protesters in front of the U.S. Post Office lined Middle Neck Road with signs like “Children don’t belong in cages,” “We were strangers,” and “families belong together.”
They also led chants like “This is what democracy looks like!” and “No ban, no fear, immigrants are welcome here,” as some cars driving by honked in support.
The event also drew a number of local officials like Town Councilwoman Anna Kaplan, a Democrat running for state Senate, and state Assemblyman Anthony D’Urso, who said he was compelled to come out because he was an immigrant who would’ve done “anything” to come to the United States.
“I couldn’t stand by the sideline and just witness the people that, based around good intention and human instincts, are here today to demonstrate against this zero tolerance policy,” D’Urso said. “And also because I’m an immigrant. I know what it’s like to walk in the shoes of an immigrant.”
Veronica Lurvey, the co-president of North Shore Action, said they decided to host this rally to push for “compassion and empathy” and stand “against the separation of families” at the border.
It also comes as the country nears July 4, she said, where now people “have to ask what kind of country we are celebrating.”
“… We need there to be compassion and empathy in how we draft our legislation and how we enforce our legislation,” Lurvey said, “and how we act as a people.”
Patty Katz, a commissioner of the Great Neck Water Pollution Control District and vice president of the progressive group Reach Out America, said that the Trump administration has created a situation where “you can’t just sit back.”
“It broke my heart when I saw children being taken from their parents. I understand immigration problems, however, we are all immigrants in this country,” Katz said. “We’ve lost our compassion, we’ve lost our humanity, and I had to do something – we all have to say we can’t live this way.”
“More and more people who usually sit back are saying ‘No, I can’t sit back anymore,’ and I think that’s the difference,” Katz later added. “Our country’s really frightening at this point.”
Diane Winiarski, a Great Neck resident for 24 years, said she normally isn’t the type to come out and protest. But, she said, everyone who isn’t a violent felon deserves to have a chance to come to this country.
“I want to say to the Trump administration: stop this evil policy of keeping people out based on spurious reasons,” Winiarski said.
Kim Rivera, a Port Washington resident donning a sign that read “What is the plan to reunite?” said she found out about this rally through moveon.org and felt compelled to attend to raise awareness about nearly 2000 children still separated from their parents.
“I am here to bring notice to the children who are lost in the system,” Rivera said. “The government has no plan to reunite them [with their families] or to find them, so that’s my biggest question: What’s the plan? How are we going to find these children and reunite them?”
Steven Weinberg, the mayor of Thomaston, said families must be “reunited immediately” and that people “should not be treated like animals in cages.”
“People are outraged and they should be outraged. It is absolutely disgusting,” Weinberg said. “This is definitely a moral crime against humanity and obviously there’s a way to treat immigrants civilly, there’s a way to treat refugees civilly, there’s a way to go through the asylum process civilly and legally.”
“Human beings are entitled to due process,” Weinberg added.
