New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) said she was outraged as dozens of illegal immigrants were arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers across her state on Sept. 4.
The governor’s statement referred to ICE operations in the townships of Cato and Fulton, small communities northwest of Syracuse. Multiple local sources indicated that one of the arrests took place at a factory run by Nutrition Bar Confectioners, a local food processing company, and that 40 to 70 people were arrested.
Videos posted on social media by Rural Migrant Ministries, a group that opposes federal immigration operations, showed several unmarked police vehicles outside the factory, as well as some marked detainee transport vehicles of the Border Patrol, which took the detainees to a U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility in Oswego, N.Y. Deputies from the Cayuga County Sheriff’s Office were also present.
“I am outraged by this morning’s ICE raids in Cato and Fulton, where more than 40 adults were seized—including parents of at least a dozen children at risk of returning from school to an empty house,” wrote Hochul in a statement posted on her official website. “New York will work with the federal government to secure our borders and deport violent criminals, but we will never stand for masked ICE agents separating families and abandoning children.”
The ICE Office of Public Affairs did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Ending illegal immigration was one of President Donald Trump’s chief campaign promises during the 2024 election, when he said he would launch the “largest mass deportation operation in American history.” Since taking office, his administration has marshaled federal law enforcement officers across multiple agencies for this effort, as well as worked to increase ICE funding to $75 billion over the next four years, more than $18 billion annually.
Democratic officials have opposed this effort. They say that despite these persons’ unlawful presence in the United States, the compassionate and humanitarian thing to do is to let them stay.
“Today’s raids will not make New York safer. What they did was shatter hard-working families who are simply trying to build a life here, just like millions of immigrants before them,” concluded Hochul’s statement. “These actions fly in the face of New York’s values. As governor, I will always stand against this cruelty.”
Republicans have said that removing illegal immigrants is required by law. Section 237(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act requires, upon an order of the attorney general, the removal of aliens deemed “deportable,” a term that applies to people who are present in violation of the law upon illegal entry or an overstay of lawful status.
The Trump administration has stated that its immigration enforcement is part of its efforts to boost national security and reduce crime associated with illegal immigration through the removal of gang members, drug traffickers, and other criminals from the country.
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