Gov. Kathy Hochul Monday visited the nutrition bar factory in Cayuga County that was the subject of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid earlier this month, and the governor is doubling down on her criticism of federal tactics deporting illegal immigrants.
Hochul visited the room where 69 Latino workers were herded, following the September 4 raid on the company that makes nutrition and protein bars.
“Is this in America where we want to have people separated by the color of their skin or where they're from, regardless of whether they have papers or not?” Hochul said. “One male agent burst into a woman's restroom, literally yanked her off the toilet, and made her line up with everyone else.”
Hochul seemed especially disturbed by stories of three mothers separated from their infants, including one mother still nursing her eight-month-old.
“I'm a mom,” she said. “That's hard on the mom. It is traumatic for the mom. It's also very unhealthy for the baby to be weaned so abruptly, so shockingly. I called Tom Homan after this, asked for help. At least can we take care of the moms, get them back with their babies? I'm still waiting to hear back.”
Hochul said the ICE agents told the company’s owners they had a criminal warrant to enter the building, but they only had an administrative warrant.
“They misrepresented the justification for even coming on the grounds to the owners, who were told ‘stay over here because there is a homicide suspect on the grounds,’ which was truly false,” she said. “The owners were lied to.”
Beyond the human impact, Hochul said this has a chilling effect on business in New York.
“It's out of control. It's got to stop. It is not making us safer, and I'm fed up with it,” she said. “I will help the federal government go after serious offenders. We have and we will continue to do so. But stop terrorizing our families and our businesses.”
According to the Department of Homeland Security, officials from Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested 57 people including five who had made illegal re-entries to the United States. The other 52 face deportation proceedings, but many have already been deported.
