The incentives to join one of America's most controversial workforces are meant to be enticing: up to a $50,000 signing bonus, student loan forgiveness and lucrative overtime hours.
Nicole Fuller reports in NEWSDAY that U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement, better known as ICE, has ramped up its recruitment efforts to hire scores of new agents by offering attractive benefits in order to fulfill President Donald Trump's push to arrest and deport the millions of people who the administration says are in the country illegally.
The massive recruitment drive to hire some 10,000 ICE employees, which began in late July, could impact local police departments — including on Long Island and in New York City — if officers were to leave in droves to join the federal immigration enforcement effort.
The annual salary for deportation officers ranges from $49,739 to $89,528, according to USA Jobs, an official government website.
So far, there does not appear to be a mass exodus from police departments on Long Island to ICE, an agency under the Department of Homeland Security.
A Suffolk police spokesperson tells NEWSDAY, "The department has not experienced an increase in retirements.”
Lou Civello, the president of the Suffolk County Police Department's largest union, the Police Benevolent Association, said that Suffolk police officers "very rarely leave for other positions." He said there have been 98 retirements so far this year.
"I've heard of no officers from Suffolk County leaving to join ICE at this point," said Civello, who noted that Suffolk's generous compensation and strong community support make it an attractive career destination.
Both Nassau and Suffolk police departments…county, town, and village…are among the highest paid in the country. Suffolk's most recent police contract, agreed upon earlier this year, secured a $189,801 salary after nine years of employment.
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Opponents of a proposed settlement between the Connetquot school district and the state to use the nickname, "T-Birds" instead of the current "Thunderbirds," made a strong showing last night at a public hearing to discuss the potential deal.
Darwin Yanes reports in NEWSDAY that school district officials last week announced that a deal with the state was in the closing stages. It would "allow the district the flexibility to revert to 'Thunderbirds' if there is a change in the current state law," Connetquot Schools Superintendent Joseph T. Centamore wrote in a letter to the school community last week.
A decision on the proposed settlement could be made as early as next week, a school official said.
More than 50 people attended yesterday's hearing and a majority of the nearly two dozen speakers who went to the podium told board members that keeping "Thunderbirds" honors decades of students educated in Connetquot district classrooms and pays tribute to the area's Native American history.
The NYS Board of Regents in 2023 banned the use of Native American mascots, team names and logos in public schools. The regulation affected 13 districts on Long Island, including Connetquot.
The name "Thunderbirds" was first chosen by school district students in the 1960s and eventually shortened unofficially to the "T-Birds.
Most districts have taken steps to get rid of the names and mascot but four districts, including Connetquot, filed legal challenges to either keep their name or nullify the regulation. A state judge ruled against the districts in March; Connetquot has appealed that ruling. Under the proposed settlement, school officials said the district would have to spend about $86,000 to rebrand to the "T-birds." But to be in full compliance with the state’s mascot ban, which means a new name, logo and imagery, the Connetquot School District estimates a price tag of about $323,000.
A handful of the attendees Thursday evening said it...
