Rally Held For LI Bagel Shop Manager Detained By ICE

PORT WASHINGTON, NY — Dozens gathered over the weekend to demand the release of Fernando Mejia from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody. Mejia is a longtime manager at Schmear Bagel and Cafe in Port Washington.

"It was a big outpouring of support," Jeff Siegel, organizer of "Friends of Fernando" told Patch.

Legislator Delia DeRiggi Whitton was one of the speakers at Saturday's event, which saw upwards of 100 people. Rep. Tom Suozzi said last week in a letter to President Trump that Mejia's arrest has "devastated the Port Washington community."

For Siegel, his reasons for turning out at the rally came out of his personal interactions with Mejia.

Schmear Bagel became part of his morning routine. Siegel, a photographer, would occasionally be at the shop with his camera.

"I had taken some pictures from Halloween. Other people had taken photos of [Mejia] dressed up as the Easter Bunny," Siegel said.

Mejia has been a fixture at Schmear, the Harbor Deli for several years, and overall, in the community for two decades.

"Just a nice, friendly guy. That's all I can say," Siegel said. "He's the type that once he gets to know you, he already knows your order. He already knows how you like your coffee."

An ICE spokesperson released the following statement to Patch about the arrest last week.

"U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement encountered Fernando Alberto Mejia Flores, a Salvadorian national, during a daily routine law enforcement action in the vicinity of Port Washington, June 12. Mejia-Flores was identified as a fugitive alien with a Final Order of Removal. ICE arrested him and transported him to an ICE processing facility in Central Islip.

"The U.S. Border Patrol previously apprehended Mejia-Flores, on Oct. 18, 2005, near Brownsville, Texas, and determined that Mejia-Flores was inadmissible to the United States. Mejia-Flores was processed and served with a Notice to Appear on Nov. 15, 2005. An immigration judge with the Dept. of Justice Executive Office for Immigration Review in New York ordered Mejia-Flores removed in absentia on Jan. 19, 2006.

"U.S. immigration laws allow aliens to pursue relief from removal; however, once they have exhausted all due process and appeals, the aliens remain subject to a final order of removal and ICE must carry out that order."

Siegel, after hearing the ICE response, said: "I'm not going to dispute any of that. All of that may be true. [But] people in masks do not just show up and pull you into a vehicle and you disappear."

Mejia has a teenager daughter who goes to school in Port Washington, Siegel said.

"We're supposed to be going after the drug dealers, the rapists, the gangs," Siegel said. "Instead, some guy who's running a bagel shop."

A GoFundMe to help support Mejia's legal expenses has topped $30,000 in donations.