Suozzi calls on Trump, Noem to release popular Port Washington bagel store manager

Rep. Tom Suozzi is calling for the release of a popular manager of a Port Washington bagel store whose arrest by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement sparked an uproar in the community.

Suozzi, a Democrat whose district includes Port Washington, said Thursday he has written to President Donald Trump making the case for releasing Salvadoran native Fernando Mejia. He also wrote to Kristi Noem, head of Homeland Security, insisting Mejia be able to meet with him or an attorney.

The arrest last week of the manager of Schmear Bagel & Cafe "has devastated the Port Washington community," Suozzi wrote to Trump. He added that Mejia appears to be the type of immigrant living in the country without legal permission who, Trump himself said last week, should be protected because they have proven to be "very good, long time workers" who contribute to local economies and communities.

While he doesn’t yet know all the details of Mejia’s background, "based upon what I do know ... I don't think he should be deported," Suozzi said in an interview.

Trump last week briefly ordered a pause on the part of his immigration crackdown targeting farms, hotels, and restaurants. But Trump administration officials reiterated later that the government is still fully committed to deporting millions of people, causing some confusion.

A White House spokesperson could not be immediately reached.

Trump has pledged to carry out the largest deportation program in U.S. history, focused mainly on violent criminals. But advocates say most of the people being deported are not gang members but rather farmworkers, restaurant cooks and the like.

Mejia, 41, has become a popular figure in Port Washington, donning Santa Claus and Easter bunny costumes during holidays and greeting customers with a big smile, according to residents and the cafe owner. He has lived in the community for nearly two decades and has a 14-year-old daughter who is a U.S. citizen.

After opening the cafe on June 12 at 5:30 a.m. and making some deliveries, he returned at 7 a.m. and was arrested by ICE agents in the parking lot, store owner George Tsikis said.

Residents are circulating a petition and raising money to help bring Mejia back. A poster in the cafe window declares "U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Out of PW! Free Fernando."

Bryan Pu-Folkes, a Hicksville-based immigration attorney representing Mejia pro bono, said he is being held at the Delaney Hall detention center in Newark.

Suozzi also proposed to Trump a major overhaul of the nation's immigration system.

"Mr. President, any reasonable person supports your goal of removing violent criminals from our streets," Suozzi wrote. "But we also know that neither you nor the American people want innocent, hardworking families caught in the crossfire."