In a scathing opinion, a federal judge has overturned the arrest by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents of a Long Island man and criticized the agency’s actions amid a mass deportation campaign as "a proverbial recipe for disaster." Bart Jones reports in NEWSDAY that Eastern District Judge Gary R. Brown on Monday ruled that ICE agents broke the law when they arrested an immigrant from El Salvador in Suffolk County in February since he had a valid juvenile immigrant visa and a work permit.

Brown said the arrest of William Enrique Sanchez Alfaro, 25, of Coram, by three experienced ICE agents called into question their training and the policies the agency was following as President Donald Trump pursues the largest deportation effort in U.S. history. "While the facts elicited about the arrest and detention of Petitioner are brutal and unacceptable, the evidence highlights a more systemic concern: the officers who testified — all sworn to uphold the law — proved unaware of and oblivious to the requirements of the law," wrote Brown, a Trump-appointed judge.

"Importantly, these officers were not ‘rookies’ — each had more than a decade’s experience in immigration enforcement," he wrote. "The combination of the officers’ lack of training and preparation and the extraordinary pressure to exponentially increase the number of immigration arrests results in a proverbial recipe for disaster."

Judge Brown gave ICE 21 days to return to court to show it is taking steps to "ensure that future ICE enforcement actions within the Eastern District of New York shall be conducted in a lawful manner."

In a previous ruling, Brown lambasted an ICE holding cell in Central Islip as cold, "putrid and cramped."

Sanchez Alfaro arrived in the United States as an unaccompanied minor in 2018 and was granted a Special Juvenile Immigrant Status visa in 2022, according to court papers.

Sanchez Alfaro has no criminal record, was working in his family’s welding business, paid his taxes and was a "model citizen," according to sworn statements submitted to the court.

Patrick Young, a professor of immigration law at Hofstra Law School, called Brown’s ruling an important move toward reining in the agency.

"This is not just about one case, but this is about the entire procedure of ICE here on Long Island," Young said.

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The next No Kings nationwide mobilization is scheduled for Saturday, March 28. As posted on MoveOn.org, “Last June, three million of us came together for the first No Kings. Then, 7 million in October. And now, March 28 is on track to be the largest No Kings mobilization yet and the largest nonviolent demonstration in U.S. history.”

Per nokings.org, this Saturday’s demonstrations are supposed to be, “…a nonviolent national day of action and mass mobilization in response to the increasing authoritarian excesses and corruption of the Trump administration.”

Beth Young reports in EAST END BEACON that local organizers are holding events across the twin forks in Riverhead, Hampton Bays, Greenport, Sag Harbor and East Hampton.

The Greenport protest begins the day’s events, from 10 a.m. to Noon in Mitchell Park, with speakers, protest artists and music followed by a march through the village.

Riverhead NoKings organizers are planning a two-mile, one-hour march beginning at 12 noon Saturday at Riverhead High School led by Riverhead and Greenport students who organized anti-ICE walkouts from their high schools in January. The march is expected to go from Riverhead High School to Town Hall and then to the Suffolk County Supreme Court building at 235 Griffing Avenue in Riverhead with a culminating rally at 1:30 p.m.

Saturday’s Sag Harbor event will be held at Steinbeck Park from 11 a.m. to noon. The East Hampton event will be held on the front lawn of East Hampton Town Hall from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Organizers are asking attendees to carpool due to limited parking at East Hampton Town Hall and no street parking. Free shuttle buses will run from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. from Atlantic Beach.

The Hampton Bays event, organized by Indivisible Long Island, will be held from Noon to 2 p.m. on Montauk Highway between The Atrium and Good Ground Cemetery. It will include an optional march to Ponquogue Avenue and back. Indivisible Long Island is also organizing a rally at the Riverhead County Center (300 Center Drive in Riverside) at 9 a.m. Saturday — this is a separate event from the downtown Riverhead afternoon rally.