3 hrs ago
New York Factory Immigration Raid Faces Scrutiny One Year Later
More than 60 federal agents went to a factory in New York to look for evidence about hiring workers without legal permission.
Instead of only searching records, agents detained many workers and questioned them.
A judge later said the agents went beyond what their warrant allowed.
The judge also found that some statements in government reports did not match video and other evidence.
Fifty-seven workers were taken to detention centers in Texas and Louisiana.
Nearly all of them were later deported.
One mother was mistakenly deported and then returned, while another mother was deported after a judge granted her bond.
The company says it followed the law and is still operating.
Government officials say pending asylum applications do not give people legal status and that the investigation remains ongoing.
More than 60 federal agents raided Nutrition Bar Confectioners in Cato, New York, detaining 57 undocumented workers.
A federal judge found agents exceeded the search warrant’s scope and suppressed evidence in one worker’s criminal case.
Court records and video disputed officials’ accounts of a confession, an arrest basis and the raid’s stated purpose.
Nearly all detained workers were deported, including a mother mistakenly deported despite an asylum hearing and another after receiving bond.
Nutrition Bar remains open, while no criminal or civil charges have been filed against the company.
- Who
- Federal immigration agents, 57 detained workers, Nutrition Bar Confectioners, company officials, worker advocates and federal judges were involved.
- What
- Agents raided the factory, detained workers and investigated alleged unlawful hiring; later court rulings challenged how the raid was conducted.
- Where
- Nutrition Bar Confectioners in Cato, New York; detained workers were sent to facilities in Texas and Louisiana.
- When
- The raid occurred on the first day of school, one year before the report; key rulings followed on December 18, in January, February and June.
- Why
- Officials said they were investigating whether the company employed undocumented workers and did not use the federal E-Verify system.
Critics and Court Findings
Government and Company Responses
Scope and conduct of the raid
Critics and Court Findings
A federal judge found that agents turned from searching for records to mass detention and treated requests for attorneys, Spanish-language speech or visible fear as probable cause for arrest. Worker advocates called the operation excessive and poorly organized.
Government and Company Responses
The Department of Homeland Security said there are no formal rulings against the search warrant and that it complies with all lawful court orders.
Purpose of the investigation
Critics and Court Findings
Worker advocates said the lack of charges against the employer suggests the operation focused on detaining workers rather than prosecuting the company.
Government and Company Responses
Officials said the raid investigated allegations that Nutrition Bar employed undocumented workers, including claims that 134 of 225 workers used invalid, borrowed or fabricated Social Security numbers.
Workers’ immigration status
Critics and Court Findings
Advocates emphasized that some detained workers had valid work permits or pending asylum cases, and cited a mistaken deportation and the deportation of a woman after she received bond.
Government and Company Responses
DHS said pending asylum applications do not confer legal status and that people without lawful status cannot remain in the United States.
Key facts
- Factory
- Nutrition Bar Confectioners, a family-owned granola-bar manufacturer in Cato, New York.
- Agents
- More than 60 federal immigration agents participated in the raid, with assistance from local sheriffs.
- Workers detained
- Fifty-seven workers were taken into immigration custody; most were later deported.
- Search warrants
- One warrant authorized seizure of company records and electronics; another authorized consensual employee questioning.
- Court finding
- Judge Brenda K. Sannes ruled that agents exceeded the warrant’s contemplated scope and suppressed evidence in Argentina Juarez-Lopez’s case.
- Company status
- No criminal or civil charges have been filed against Nutrition Bar Confectioners, and the company remains in business.
- Government response
- The Department of Homeland Security said the warrant has no formal rulings against it and complies with lawful court orders.
Quotes
Brenda K. Sannes
Chief U.S. District judge for the Northern District of New York
“It just feels like ICE is just experimenting on raids like this, and not just in Cato. Let’s see what happens if we go into a workplace, even if the warrant really can’t hold up, and keep doing it until we see if there are any consequences.”
livemint.com
“Even assuming that warrant complied with the Fourth Amendment — an issue which is far from clear cut — the agents plainly exceeded its contemplated scope.”
livemint.com
Sources
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