ICE Agents Detain Guatemala Native Esaul Córdova García Outside Suffolk County Court

Eyewitnesses say federal immigration agents wearing camouflage and patches reading “Police,” “HSI” and “ERO” surrounded a blue car and detained Esaul Córdova García in the parking lot outside the Arthur M. Cromarty Criminal Court Complex in Riverside on Wednesday morning, Feb. 19. Anita Boyer, a Hampton Bays organizer with OLA’s Rapid Response network, said she was alerted around 11 a.m. and watched the scene unfold; “He was kind of hesitant to go. It was really wild how fast it all happened,” Boyer told Riverheadlocal, describing shouting and the man already surrounded in his car.

Court records reviewed by local reporters show Córdova García, year of birth 1991, pleaded guilty in October 2022 to unlawful surveillance in the second degree, a Class E felony, and was sentenced to five months in jail and five years’ probation. Those same records list a 2012 arrest in which he was released on his own recognizance, and they show a Suffolk County court appearance scheduled for Feb. 25 in the ongoing county matter.

Video and still images circulated on social media and were shared with reporters by local ICE-watcher networks and Rapid Response volunteers. The East End Beacon published footage showing agents in camouflage and an ERO agent displaying a pepper spray canister to people filming the detainment; Riverhead News-Review and Riverheadlocal reported that volunteers later located three cars bearing federal agents at the New York State Police Barracks in Riverside and were asked to leave by state police.

Family members identified the detained man as Esaul Córdova García, a native of Guatemala who lives in Flanders with his wife and three children, ages 10, 5 and 2. Riverheadlocal reported that Córdova García called his wife late the afternoon after the detainment and told her he was being held somewhere in Nassau County; his wife launched a GoFundMe to raise money for legal expenses, Riverhead News-Review reported.

The arrest has renewed organizing by OLA of Eastern Long Island. Minerva Perez, OLA’s executive director, has been presenting to town boards and pushed for a Public Safety Task Force that the Southold Town Board approved on Feb. 10. Perez criticized earlier ICE activity in Greenport on Feb. 4 that local groups say led to detentions of longtime North Fork residents named Alexandro Rivera Magana, Martir Zambrano Diaz and Hugo Leonel Ardon Osorio, and she has urged local officials to take action.

Boyer, who recorded video of the Riverside scene and helped mobilize responders, said she was approached by court officers and volunteers while documenting the detainment; “However you vote, I don’t think you want me to be the one protecting anyone. I’m a dance teacher. That’s what I do,” she told East End Beacon, underscoring community strain around rapid-response duties.

Riverhead News-Review reported it has reached out to ICE for confirmation and to the detained man’s defense attorney; no federal statement or attorney comment was included in the reporting. With Córdova García’s next Suffolk County court appearance scheduled for Feb. 25 and his family raising funds for legal representation, local advocates say they will press town boards and continue documenting federal activity across the North Fork.