But afterward, a young woman panicked. Earlier, she'd agreed to describe to The Suffolk Times what she'd been through over the past year -- a year spent raising an 8-year-old son without the support of her brother-in-law, nephew and cousin.
But when it came time to talk, tears welled up. She changed her mind and declined to comment.
According to Sister Margaret Smyth, director of the North Fork Spanish Apostolate, the pain and anxiety caused by last year's surprise raids in Greenport by federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents is still strong for many in the North Fork's Latino community.
So is the fear of being raided again.
According to a March 2007 assessment of ICE's Fugitive Operations Teams, released by the Department of Homeland Security, the quota of arrests that each team was required to meet has risen from 125 in 2003 to 1,000 in 2007.
Melinda Rubin, a Hamptons-based immigration attorney, said she's seen the frequency of early-morning raids intensify within the last two years, not only in New York, but all across the country.
Ms. Rubin explained how ICE raids work. "The trigger is someone who's on probation and hasn't shown up to court," she said. "Then the probation department will notify immigration, and the word gets out. They often are looking for only one person with a criminal record or someone with a deportment order. Other people get caught up. It's raid first, ask questions later, and [legal] people suffer as well."
Sr. Margaret said the Latino woman at the church is still afraid to discuss her experience, even after a full year.
"I think the reality of it sank in, and she panicked," Sr. Margaret said. "She struggles. She works hard, taking as many jobs as she can, cleaning, hotel work mostly. She lives very simply and she keeps going."
The woman's male relatives were hauled away by officers during the early morning hours of Sept. 27, 2007. They were then detained and eventually deported back to Mexico and Guatemala. According Sr. Margaret, they are now in contact with each other and with family members here.
"But I've not seen anyone who's returned," said Sr. Margaret.
Last year's raids were sparked by reports of alleged gang activity among the immigrants living in Greenport.
Paulette Satur, co-owner of Satur Farms, a Cutchogue vegetable farm, said that she was able to find and bring back one of her workers, Marvin, who'd been detained in New York City.
Marvin, according to Ms. Satur, is an immigrant from El Salvador. He's a relative of her longtime driver, Ricardo, whose Greenport home had been raided.
"He came here to work," Ms. Satur said. "I swear on my life, he's not a gang member ... Marvin's a librarian [in his home country]."
She said Marvin has a pending court date to determine whether or not he can stay in this country.
"He's just waiting now," she said. "He's in limbo."
Marvin is not the only one with pending court time. Mario Patzan DeLeon, Gonzalo Escalante, Yoni Revolorio and Juan Mijangos of Riverhead are being represented by lawyers from the Puerto Rican Defense Fund in a class action complaint against ICE. Their rental home was raided in April of last year.
According to the complaint, ICE officers are doing everything they can -- including violating immigrants' rights -- to meet their increased arrest quotas.
"The agents never explained their rights and failed to produce a warrant of any kind," reads an opening paragraph of the complaint. "Having once been victimized by ICE, Mario, Gonzalo, Yoni and Juan Jose live in constant fear that ICE agents will return and again try to unlawfully enter their homes."
The complaint went on to describe how the men had been taken to 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan for interrogation. Though they were released hours later, they did not have enough money at first to get home. And when they did get home, they had to fix -- and pay for -- the damage inflicted by ICE agents themselves.
Ghita Schwartz, an attorney for the 32 plaintiffs involved in the complaint, said that if the lawsuit goes to trial, it would affect everyone in the New York region. She said that many who are legal and detained for no crime don't come back for several reasons.
"They're taken to Texas and all sorts of other places," she said. "The bond is set so high, they're unable to get out ... they have no access to their families. They get up and go home."
Ms. Schwartz said the American Immigration Lawyers Association is helping to track down some of these people for family members left behind.
"They're just working here," she said. "It's abusive."
Shelter Island resident Franciso De'Paz said that the issue of immigration continues to be a tough topic, "especially in these communities," he said.
Originally from Belize, Mr. De'Paz, 35, came to the North Fork 11 years ago to study guitar and piano at Five Towns College in Dix Hills. Though he said he doesn't personally know anyone whose homes were raided, he said he "saw what happened, the impact on the community, the fear on people's faces."
But he says he doesn't blame Homeland Security for lengthy immigration processing. He says he's gone through the process himself and thinks it's absolutely necessary.
"The reason I like it here is because it's safe," he said. "I know what it's like to live in a place where there is no freedom. It's a privilege to be able to live here, whether the economy is good or not, I really cherish the freedom of this community. I knew I wanted to do something with my life, and I chose this piece of ground."
Ms. Rubin said that in many cases, the best thing for someone who's detained is to take the voluntary deportment and "go home." She said that if a person is sent to the Southwest, there's just not much she can do to help.
"I don't want to lie to them," she said.
But she said ICE does take into account that some people have family issues that have to be dealt with. They're lenient if, say, a man's children are American citizens and his wife has a green card.
"They can't really leave someone alone with an infant," she said, especially when the mother can't afford a baby sitter in order to work.
But, she said, the ICE policy of "grabbing first and asking questions later" will continue to apply to all immigrants.
Ms. Rubin advises those who are perfectly legal to be careful about their choice of housemates.
"When you live with people you don't know much about, even with two or three guys [under suspicion]," she said, "it could trigger a raid ... And you're in danger."
Mr. De'Paz puts it differently.
"Learn how to integrate into the community and open up," he advised. "This is a beautiful place. We're all here to help each other out."
eschultz@timesreview.com