Donald Trump

President Trump to Visit Long Island Friday

President Donald Trump will travel to New York on Friday to meet with law enforcers on Long Island.

It's unclear why the president is coming to Suffolk, but Rep. Lee Zeldin and the White House confirmed to News 4 that Trump will be visiting Friday.

Citing Rep. Peter King, Newsday reported that Trump plans to discuss the violent MS-13 gang problem that’s resulted in the killings of 11 young people in the last year.

Trump has previously referred to MS-13 as “bad people.”

Brentwood residents Rob Mickens and Elizabeth Alvarado say they hope to meet President Trump during his Long Island visit to share a personal story related MS-13 and stress the importance of ending gang violence.

Their 15-year-old daughter Nisa and her friend Kayla Cuevas were murdered last September by alleged MS-13 members.

“I do want him to see my pictures on my wall and how great my daughter really was,” Alvarado said.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions even came out to Central Islip in April to meet Mickens and Cuevas’ families, bolstering Trump’s commitment to enforcing immigrant laws and battling street gangs before his relationship with the president grew tense.

“If you are a gang member, know this — we will find you,” Sessions said at the meeting.

Around the same time, Trump told The Associated Press, “We are putting MS-13 in jail and getting them the hell out of our country… We are out in Long Island cleaning out the MS-13 scum.”

Now, Rob Mickens is demanding more concrete action.

“I really want to say to (Trump), how are we really going to end this problem?” he said. “Why did it take this long?”

Suffolk police say that there have been at least 17 MS-13-related murders over the past year and a half. In recent months, they, along with the FBI, have arrested dozens of MS-13 members, including those responsible for killing Mickens and Cuervas.

The Suffolk police commissioner offered no comment on Trump’s visit or police plans for the visit at a public event Tuesday.

Immigrant advocates on Long Island have accused the president of politicizing the MS-13 gang problem to justify a crackdown on undocumented immigrants.

So far, Nisa Mickens’ parents have not received a formal invitation to meet with the president. The White House says it is still working out the itinerary and details of Trump’s visit.

Others in the tri-state are already bracing for Trump's plans to vacation at his "summer White House" in Bedminster, New Jersey for 18 days in August, fearing days of protests and inconveniences, including a miles-wide flight restriction over the area.

When Trump goes to Bedminster, temporary flight restrictions are put in place within a 30-mile radius for local airports. Planes are also prohibited from flying within 10 miles of the town, so locals may need to look to other airports during the president’s stay.

Contact Us