U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents’ arrest and detention of a 20-year-old Suffolk County Community College honors student has sparked growing outrage amid the debate over immigration enforcement on Long Island.
Sara Lizeth Lopez Garcia, a Colombian immigrant who came to the U.S. five years ago, was in the process of obtaining permanent residency when ICE agents arrested her on May 21 at her family’s Mastic home, despite not being the target of the search. According to her legal representatives, ICE agents arrived at the address in search of other individuals, yet still took her and her mother into custody even though neither had a criminal record.
