Islip renews ICE shooting range contract — community opposition and transparency gaps persist
The Islip Town Board voted 4–1 to renew its contract with ICE, allowing agents to continue training at the town's publicly owned rifle range. The new five-year term, set to begin when the current contract expires at the end of June 2026, has drawn sustained community protest but leaves key financial details undisclosed.
The Islip renewal is a local government choice to keep providing infrastructure for federal immigration enforcement, despite vocal community opposition. Beginning June 2026, the new five-year contract normalizes ICE's presence in a town where residents and advocates have repeatedly called for termination. Councilman Guadrón, the lone dissenting vote, wanted contract language strictly limiting use to training — acknowledging even that change would not fully satisfy opponents. But the majority renewed without those limits, prioritizing revenue over immigrant safety.
The contract's total financial terms remain unclear. Reporting confirms the five-year duration but does not specify the total dollar value. Earlier reports cited a $63,000 figure, but it has not been independently verified as an annual payment or total contract value. This opacity undermines accountability. Under Project 2025's vision of devolving enforcement to local jurisdictions, such agreements become force multipliers for ICE — turning community assets into training grounds for agents who enforce policies that separate families and deny due process. The Islip deal is a concrete example of how local complicity normalizes a punitive system.
The humanitarian alternative
Instead of renewing the contract, Islip could have required ICE to pay market-rate fees for range use, redirecting those funds to community-based public safety programs, such as violence interruption initiatives or immigrant legal aid. The town could also have conditioned the contract on ICE providing quarterly public reports of enforcement actions tied to training at the facility, ensuring accountability and transparency. A more ambitious alternative would be a local ordinance barring the use of town property for federal immigration enforcement training unless the community votes to approve it via referendum, giving residents direct control over how their tax dollars support federal policy.
Falsifiable predictions
What this entry claims will happen, and what data would prove it wrong. The Reckoner revisits these against current reality.
- Within 12 months, at least one other Long Island town will face a similar public campaign to end or condition its ICE training contract.
- The Islip contract renewal will be cited as a precedent by at least one state-level bill introduced in the New York legislature to restrict local-federal training agreements.
- ICE will increase its use of the Islip range by at least 10% over the prior three-year contract period, measured by scheduled training days.
Grounded in
- Islip renews controversial contract for ICE - New York Post
- Islip Town Renews Contract With Ice For Shooting Range
- Islip OKs contract extension for ICE at town shooting range - Newsday
- Islip Officials Counter 'Misinformation' About ICE Training at Town Rifle Range
- ICE agents training at Islip rifle range spark controversy amid immigration crackdown - CBS New York
- Long Island gun range faces backlash for ICE training contract - PIX11
Original source — excerpted
news Long Island town renews controversial contract allowing ICE to use taxpayer-funded shooting range"See more of our coverage in your search results. Islip has extended its controversial partnership with ICE, allowing agents to continue to train at a taxpayer-..."