A Flanders man who owns a landscaping company and one of his workers were arrested by ICE agents early Monday morning on Flanders Road, as they headed out to work in the Hamptons.
The man’s nephew, Bertoldo León, who is also his employee, was a passenger in his uncle’s vehicle when it was pulled over at about 7:20 a.m. Monday.
He, his uncle, and a worker who was starting his first day at the uncle’s landscaping company, had just left a house in Flanders where they had loaded equipment for their workday in Southampton and Bridgehampton, León said.
“We got into the pickup and drove about three minutes when we were forced to stop,” León said. Six unmarked cars with tinted windows had followed their pickup and then turned on flashing lights to make them pull over. Each vehicle was occupied by several plain-clothes agents carrying firearms and wearing green vests labeled “police,” he said.
“They came up to the passenger side and asked for our IDs,” said León, who was born in the United States and showed officers his Real ID.
His uncle also handed over his driver’s license, and the other man—on the job only minutes—gave the officers his name and other details, explaining he had no document on hand.
“My uncle asked why we were being stopped, and the officer said they were conducting an investigation,” León recounted.
The officer took the identification cards and, after about 10 to 15 minutes, returned, showed them a photo of a person they said they were looking for, and added that both the uncle and the other worker had “immigration problems.”
“They told them to put their hands behind their backs and took them to one of the cars,” León said. “They said that was all and left.”
León recorded much of the operation and posted it on social media because, he says, he wants the community to know what is happening.
“To let people know they need to be careful. This is real life and it could happen to anyone,” he said.
León describes his uncle as a hardworking family man who has lived in the United States for 20 years since leaving his native Mexico. He attended middle and high school in Southampton and currently holds three jobs to support his wife and their 8-year-old daughter.
“I felt very sad because he has a family he loves very much and who are here. He adores his daughter; he is a tireless worker. He has three jobs and does it all to provide for his family,” León said.
According to the ICE detainee locator, an online lookup tool, Leon’s uncle is in ICE custody at the ICE field office in East Meadow.
León knows little about the other worker who was arrested, but regrets that this happened on the man’s first day on the job.
“The first day working with us. It was a bad day for him, too,” he added.
This story was originally published June 30 on Tu Prensa Local. It is reprinted here by permission.
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