Civil Rights Advocates Worry Anti-Gang Plan Will Target Immigrant Students on Long Island

Immigration advocates say a new initiative to combat the spread of gangs at 10 high-risk schools in Suffolk County will leave young immigrant students more fearful. 

Gov. Andrew Cuomo unveiled the initiative on Wednesday on the one-year anniversary of the brutal killing of two high school students by alleged MS-13 gang members. 

The strategy was already underway Thursday, with one state trooper cruiser parked outside Brentwood High School. 

Brian Castillo, an 11th grade student at the school, said the presence of a trooper made him feel more secure. 

"They're protecting us and making sure nothing is going to happening to us," he said. 

But one immigration group says the presence of police will strike fear in immigrant students. 

"We know that ultimately immigrant young people will be put in deportation because of officers in schools," said Walter Barrientos, an advocate for immigrants.

Barrientos says that concerns about gangs have already led to about a dozen undocumented students being pulled from class and accused of being gang members. He says the evidence against those students is flimsy. 

Dr. Mary Jones, the superintendent of Wyandanch Schools, says students shouldn't feel afraid.

"We will develop a system of trust so that our students don't have to fear or worry at all," Jones said. "They are protected." 

Still Jones is welcoming the state troopers. She says one gang incident is one too many. 

Jones' words of reassurance are echoed by the governor's office. A spokesperson said the state doesn't inquire about immigration status and that the central goal of the new initiative is to protect students from gang violence. 

Elizabeth Alvarado is one mother applauding the presence of state troopers at high-risk schools. Her daughter Nisa Mickens, and Mickens' friend Kayla Cuevas, were killed by gang members a year ago this week, authorities say.

Sitting alongside a garden she planted for her daughter, Alvarado said adding more uniformed officers at schools to fight gangs is long overdue. 

"We all have to stand up to this," Alvarado said. "This is not a game anymore."

The bodies of Mickens and Cuevas were found during a terrifying six-week period for the community in which police also discovered the remains of Oscar Acosta, 19, Miguel Garcia-Moran, 15, and 18-year-old Jose Pena-Hernandez. All five were students at Brentwood High School. Acosta and Garcia-Moran had been missing for several months before their bodies were found near Long Island Rail Road tracks on Sept. 26.  

"We don't want to have Channel 4 go to a location and say, 'We have another victim of MS-13,'" Alvarado said. "We're tired of it." 

In April of this year, four young men ages 16 to 20 were found hacked to death with machetes in Central Islip. Two of the men were students at Bellport High School. Prosecutors announced charges in those killings in July.

The unit that Cuomo announced this week consists of 10 state troopers sent to 10 schools in the districts of Brentwood, Central Islip, Huntington, Longwood, South Country Central and Wyandanch; these districts are seen as a "ground zero for gang activity and recruitment." 

"They are thugs that have to be stamped out," Cuomo, a Democrat, said while announcing the initiative at Central Islip Senior High School. "I consider them domestic terrorists. Either they win or we win ... and we are going to win."

In addition to the state troopers, the Gang Violence Prevention Unit will coordinate an "Educate the Educators" partnership between Suffolk County police and school administrators, teachers and other officials so they can counsel students at risk of joining gangs. Officers will inform the educators on "MS-13 identifiers" that include gang recruitment methods. 

The initiative also incorporates a gang awareness curriculum that aims to bridge the divide with police and teach students about the risks of joining gangs. 

Cuomo called the initiative "just one step in our ongoing efforts to eradicate the threat of MS-13." Earlier this year, the governor added 25 state troopers for increased patrols in Brentwood and Central Islip and added six investigators to the FBI-led Long Island Gang Task Force.

In recent months, police have increased their visibility in communities hard hit by gang violence, and undercover operations have targeted neighborhoods known to have high levels of gang activity. 

MS-13 has been blamed for 21 deaths on Long Island in the past 21 months. The killings, many of which have involved teenagers, have caught the attention of both President Donald Trump and U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, both of whom have visited Long Island in recent months to promise federal action to stem the violence.