Emotions ran high during a loud and contentious Mahopac School Board meeting dominated by questions over Trustee Christopher Harrigan’s fitness to serve while working as an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent.
Calls for Harrigan’s resignation came after video showing him detaining a man in Brewster was posted to social media—with some raising concerns that he could potentially use his position on the school board to target students and their families.
Colleagues and some local officials voiced support for Harrigan before the meeting, with fellow trustee Tanner McCracken calling Harrigan’s work with ICE “lawful” and saying it was “entirely separate from his volunteer service on the school board,” and Assemblyman Matt Slater saying attempts to force Harrigan’s resignation were “both disgraceful and outrageous” and warning that targeting an elected official for lawful employment set a dangerous precedent.
A longtime law enforcement veteran, Harrigan began his tenure with ICE before his election to the school board in 2024. He did not address comments from the audience during the meeting, but when asked beforehand whether he had any intention of stepping down, he said, “Absolutely not.”
The session, which moved to the Falls School auditorium after a work meeting in the PD Room focused on such routine matters as the budget, began with Board President Michael Mongon reading a prepared statement responding to calls for Harrigan’s removal. The statement garnered a standing ovation from a large portion of the audience there to support Harrigan.
“The Board of Education has been receiving several communications from members of the community asking that Trustee Christopher Harrigan be removed as a member of the board based on his employment,” Mongon said. “The qualifications for serving as a member of the Board of Education are established by New York state law,” he said. “The authority of the board to remove one of its members is also established by state law.
“Trustee Harrigan’s employment does not disqualify him under New York state law from continuing to serve as a duly elected member of the Board of Education,” Mongon added.
“This Board of Education stands united behind Trustee Chris Harrigan and will not be entertaining his removal,” he said, drawing another standing ovation from a large section of the audience.
Security was increased for the meeting, with members of the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office and the Carmel Police Department on hand. Attendees — close to 100 in all — were required to pass through a metal detector (handheld security wand) to enter the building. Shades were pulled down in the PD room for that portion of the meeting, but the door was kept open at all times in compliance with open meeting laws. A handful of people sat through that meeting before it was adjourned and moved across the hall to accommodate the larger crowd, which included reporting teams from WABC and News 12.
Speakers were divided between those calling for Harrigan’s resignation and supporters.
First addressing the board in Spanish, Carmel resident Ixmucane Pereira said she was speaking as a mother, grandmother and taxpayer concerned about the district’s large population of Spanish-speaking students and what she described as insufficient support for them. While she continued speaking in Spanish during her opening remarks — even after someone in the audience shouted that she should speak English because “this is America” — Pereira later switched to English.
She said her concerns were compounded by Harrigan’s presence on the board as an ICE agent, arguing that his involvement in immigration enforcement has created fear within the community and anxiety among families about the safety of students and their information.
“I was born here, raised somewhere else, and I speak more than one language,” she said. “You are representing our children, the future of this generation. Isn’t it embarrassing not to have one person representing the children you are educating?”
She said she was not there to judge the Board of Education, but to speak about what she described as actions taken by Harrigan in his role as an ICE agent.
“I’m here because in front of me I have Mr. Harrigan taking two people without a warrant,” she said. “I recorded him. Those individuals work for some of you who are sitting here.”
She said she was searching for a young man who recently arrived in the United States as a refugee and is now missing.
“You took Felipe from us on Sunday,” she said. “We can’t find him.”
Pereira was followed by a speaker who said she was born and raised in Mahopac and had children who graduated from the school district. Noting that she was a practicing psychotherapist (which drew derision from some in the audience), the speaker said ICE raids were having a harmful effect on children.
“They’re afraid they’re going to be separated from their parents,” she said. “They’re afraid they’re going to be separated from their grandparents and from their friends.”
She said that fear was felt “on a daily basis.”
“We cannot have an individual who is responsible for that fear on our school board,” she said, adding that ICE agents across the country have detained “at least 100 to 200” people who were in the country legally, including U.S. citizens. “I know three personally.”
Calling the raids “unprecedented,” she said, “This is the United States. This is not supposed to happen. As a lifelong member of the Mahopac community, I am appalled that this kind of conduct by a board president is not being tolerated, but applauded.”
Mahopac resident Laura Ferrelli called for Harrigan’s resignation or “forced removal” and said ICE raids across the country are inhumane.
“The fact that people I know and interact with on a regular basis could cheer as the government abducts and tear-gases its own citizens and even children — there isn’t even a word for how awful that is,” Ferrelli said.
She said having Harrigan on the board violated the district’s policy of providing a safe learning environment.
“But how can you ensure safety when one of your own is working for an organization that is terrorizing children and families?” she said. “How are parents supposed to feel comfortable sending their children here every day, knowing they might not be here to pick them up at the end of the day because a board member has access to data that could destroy their lives?”
Ferrelli was followed by a number of speakers supporting Harrigan, including both private citizens and local officials.
Putnam County Executive Kevin Byrne (R, Carmel), who lives in Mahopac, said he was speaking as the parent of a child in the district.
“I’m here to tell you that, like every level of government, we, the people of Mahopac, elect our representatives,” Byrne said, adding, “I personally voted for that man. I believe in having leaders who will protect parental rights and stand up for the Constitution and our rights.”
“In this county, we proudly support our men and women in law enforcement, and be damned if someone says they cannot serve on the school board,” Byrne added, drawing loud applause. “This is one of the safest, healthiest and most prosperous counties and towns in America.”
Byrne concluded by acknowledging the challenges of serving on the Board of Education.
“I want to thank each and every one of you for the jobs that you do and for the crap that you put up with,” he said.
County Legislator Erin Crowley and Carmel Councilman Robert Kearns also spoke in support of Harrigan.
“I am here as a community member, mother of four, and wife of a law enforcement officer,” Crowley said, adding that being a federal officer in no way disqualifies Harrigan from serving on the Board of Education.
“This trustee was elected to the position by the voters of Mahopac, and no evidence has been presented that he violated school district policy, improperly accessed student records or failed to uphold his duties as a trustee,” she said, adding that removing an elected official because of profession “would set a troubling precedent.”
Crowley said claims that Harrigan’s federal employment poses a threat to students or compromises confidentiality are speculative and unsupported, noting that school board members are bound by strict student privacy laws regardless of background or profession.
“I urge the board to remain focused on its mission, respect the will of the voters, and reject calls for any resignation rooted in politics rather than evidence of wrongdoing,” Crowley said.
Kearns, also speaking as a district parent, said he knew Harrigan personally and described him as a man of integrity.
“I personally helped win his election, and I want to say that I am standing behind him,” Kearns said. “He should not be expected to resign for carrying out a lawful executive order. It is not his role as a law enforcement officer to debate or advance policy. It is his duty to follow lawful directives and enforce the law as instructed. Chris puts his life on the line every day to keep our nation safe, and for that, he deserves our full respect and support.”
Mahopac resident Marie Frankel said she was speaking in support of Harrigan and criticized what she described as “open border activists” opposing his service on the board.
She accused groups such as Hudson Valley Patriots for Immigration Reform and the teachers union, which she said is supported by the Democratic Party, of organizing efforts to remove board members who do not align with their political agenda.
“Harrigan was duly elected by the board and the community,” Frankel said. “He has worked tirelessly to do what’s best for the Mahopac School District.”
She said online posts criticizing Harrigan and his work as an ICE agent were “appalling” and posed a threat to Harrigan and his family.
“Illegal aliens fill up emergency rooms, cost extra educational dollars and take up housing,” Frankel said. “We follow the rule of law in this community. Yes, we’re a nation of immigrants — legal immigrants who waited their turn, came here and assimilated into American culture.”
“We don’t support protesting legal immigration authorities for doing their job,” she said.
With the audience becoming more boisterous and shouting erupting from both sides, Mongon called for a five-minute recess to cool down before the meeting concluded with two final speakers offering their support for Harrigan. Afterward, the crowd dispersed peacefully.
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