Locals rally against immigration order at King’s office

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Residents protested outside of U.S. Rep. Peter King’s Massapequa office on Feb. 3 to condemn his support of President Trump’s immigration order.
Residents protested outside of U.S. Rep. Peter King’s Massapequa office on Feb. 3 to condemn his support of President Trump’s immigration order.
Rebecca Anderson/Herald

Local advocacy groups, religious leaders and residents rallied outside of U.S. Rep. Peter King’s Massapequa office on Feb. 3 to condemn the Seaford Republican’s support of President Trump’s immigration order, which has been halted by a temporary restraining order.

President Trump’s order barred citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries — Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen — from entering the U.S. for 90 days, and suspended the U.S.’s refugee system for 120 days. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani said on Fox News last month that he and King, along with other political leaders, helped Trump craft the order; however, King said that Giuliani was mistaken. 

King explained that he met with Trump and his campaign team and a panel of homeland security experts in August to talk about terrorism. “The question of executive orders never came up,” he added. “The main thing that I discussed with [Trump] was the need for more surveillance, similar to what the NYPD has done…there has to be more surveillance in the Muslim community.” 

Lisa Tyson, the director of the Long Island Progressive Coalition, said that it didn’t matter to her if King helped draft the executive order. “He has been boasting for quite some time about how he wants to segregate Muslims and treat them differently,” she explained. “He was behind these hateful statements.” 

Tyson said that that’s why her organization, ATLI, Together We Will-LI, Bend the Arc Jewish Action, Long Island Moveon.org, Long Island Activists and New York’s 2nd District Democrats protested at King’s office on Friday. Leaders of each advocacy group called the order unconstitutional, un-American and illegal, saying that Muslims — particularly those fleeing war-torn countries — are being unfairly targeted because of their religious beliefs. 

Christina Wrigley, a Wantagh resident, said she attended the demonstration to show support for immigrants. “Everyone has a right to be in the United States and everybody as a right to be safe and be here,” she added. 

However, some of the local folks standing outside of King’s office with signs and flags in their hands supported the order. Dan Napolitano, of North Massapequa, said that his community has been devastated by heroin — a drug that he believes is trafficked through Mexico. 

“Anything that will make those kids safer — whether it’s a war, a barbed wire fence or shooting drug dealers — I’m all for it,” he said. “These [protesters] have no idea what reality is.”

Federal district Judge James Robart, of Washington State, issued a nationwide temporary restraining order that lifts the travel ban late Friday evening. Robart, who was originally named to the court by George W. Bush, followed that up with a seven-page ruling on the merits of the state’s case in which he said the executive order “adversely affects the state’s residents in areas of employment, education, business, family relations and freedom to travel.”

King said that he has received many calls in support of and against the policy. He said that feels that it is constitutional and that the president has a right to decide who can enter the country and who cannot. However, King was also critical of the rollout, adding that federal officials should’ve been better prepared and the order “may have to be refined to address particular nuances with green cards and visas.” 

 

Islamic Center looks ahead  

Congregants of the Islamic Center of Long Island, one of the region’s largest mosques, spoke about the impact that the order has had on Muslim-Americans at the protest. Habeeb Ahmed said that he knows people who cannot visit their loved ones who are sick and elderly because of the restrictions. 

Dr. Isma Chaudhry, ICLI’s president, said that the order was both sad and disturbing. Noting that she came to the United States from Pakistan to obtain her post-graduate degrees, she said that it’s impossible to quantify people’s immigration status because America is a nation of immigrants who sought “a life of freedom and to see the beauty of humanity.”

 “The leader of the free world is closing our doors to people who are fleeing from oppression from inhuman conditions in their own countries,” she said. “Nobody leaves their own country, their own home, to be in a compromised position for years just for the heck of it. I hope, wish and pray that [Trump] thinks compassionately about all of the citizens of the world.” 

Last week was marked with peaceful shows of solidarity between different faith and community groups across Long Island, Chaudhry said. Rabbis from both shores visited ICLI on Friday afternoon in advance of what she described as a weekend of prayer. 

ICLI is also offering Sunday workshops to congregants that Chaudhry said focus on individuals’ legal rights. She applauded officers at the Nassau County Police Department for listening to and addressing the concerns of members of her congregation have about what she called a divisive and fearful climate. 

Chaudhry is also inviting all Long Islanders to a community conversation  focused on ways to “protect all of our children in vulnerable communities” at Westbury Middle School on Feb. 15 at 7 p.m. She hopes that the event will allow diverse groups of people to get to know each other. 

“It is so important to let people know how the real Islam is and that we believe in peace and harmony and standing up for your neighbor,” she said. “There are differences between us all, but they should not be a reason to build walls — they should be a reason to build bridges.” 

 

Rebecca Anderson contributed to this story.