Immigrants’ fears remain after ICE activity

‘Vigil for Human Rights’ — More than 50 people turned out in 15-degree weather Feb. 1 for a candlelight Vigil for Human Rights in front of the Katonah Presbyterian Church. Organized by The Justice Seekers, a group at the church who have been meeting every Sunday since May 2025, it was billed as “a gathering to hold up light in the darkness and experience solidarity.” It included songs and readings, including the names of those who have been killed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, commonly known as ICE.  JILL BECKER PHOTO

By MARTIN WILBUR

Recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity in Mount Kisco, where agents stopped cars on Lexington Avenue in search of a particular individual, triggered fear and alarm in the community.

But over the past 13 months, that emotion has been a near constant reality for hundreds of families in the village and elsewhere in Westchester County, hoping they will not be swept up by ICE even if they are diligently and lawfully advancing through the process, an immigration attorney said this week.

“We know that people in this area are afraid to go into the store, they’re afraid to get in the car, to go to an appointment,” said Karin Anderson Ponzer, director of the Mount Kisco-based Neighbors Link Community Law Practice, which represents countless new arrivals in Westchester.

The ICE activity Feb. 4 in Mount Kisco, confirmed by multiple observers and the mayor’s office, is an example of the secretive and often changing guidance that recent immigrants who hope one day to become citizens face on a regular basis. One example was a Department of Homeland Security memo that was recently leaked stating that ICE agents who are enforcing civil immigration law had the authority to enter homes without a warrant. Many have argued that it is unconstitutional.

“People are really frightened,” Ponzer said. “Anytime somebody can just knock down your door without any criminal charges against you, that’s really frightening, and that’s the specter people are facing. So there’s a lot of anxiety in the immigrant community and the public at large for what this means for everybody.”

Mount Kisco Mayor J. Michael Cindrich said last week that to his knowledge the searches conducted within the village have taken place only with a criminal judicial warrant. That was the case last week, he said.

“The last person they arrested had assaulted an 84-year-old man at five o’clock in the morning and was responsible for the arson at the pagoda and released,” Cindrich said, referring to the Tea House fire at Leonard Park that damaged the structure. “It was going to go to trial, and just before the trial started, he was arrested by Homeland Security.”

But Ponzer has plenty of stories to relay about people with clean records. Last week one woman that Ponzer represents told her that her 11-year-old son was too frightened to attend afterschool programs or be out in public. Ponzer wrote a letter for him, as his family’s attorney, to carry at all times explaining how he has a right to be in the country while their case is heard, and if there are any questions to contact her.

On Dec. 23, another client of Ponzer’s, a man whose asylum claim was in the process of being adjudicated, was taken away by ICE during one of his regularly scheduled appointments with authorities. He ended up in a Louisiana detention center the next day, then taken to a Texas facility on Christmas, before being transferred to a different detention center in Louisiana the following day. He remains there seven weeks later.

Ponzer said the administration has also been focusing on people from countries who have had their Temporary Protected Status revoked as well as Afghani refugees. Mount Kisco, which has about 40% of its residents born outside the U.S., is composed mainly of people from Latin countries.

“It’s not like people with status somehow don’t need to worry about it,” she said.

Along with carrying their documents with them at all times, everyone who is going through the immigration process should retain an attorney, Ponzer said. Fully understanding their status and all of their rights and responsibilities is essential, she said. 

Families should also have a preparedness plan where if a parent is detained and they have children, there should be a signed document completed stipulating a responsible adult to care for the minors.

All community members should understand they have a right to observe the public actions of ICE agents, but not to obstruct or interfere, Ponzer said. Finally, she said New Yorkers can contact their state representatives and Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office to support the New York for All Act, a proposed measure in Albany that prohibits state police, personnel and agencies from enforcing federal civil immigration law. It’s similar to Westchester’s Immigrant Protection Act.

“For people to have trust in local law enforcement, they need to understand that local law enforcement does not collaborate with ICE unless there’s a criminal matter,” Ponzer said.