A woman and her three children who were detained and sent to Texas following an immigration enforcement operation at a dairy farm in Jefferson County are on their way back to Upstate New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Monday.
“When a Sackets Harbor family was detained by ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) last month, I called on ICE to provide answers immediately and spoke with White House border czar Tom Homan to call for their release,” Hochul said. “Moments ago, I spoke once again with Mr. Homan who informed me that this family ― a third grader, two teenagers and their mother ― are currently on their way back to Jefferson County.
“I cannot imagine the trauma these kids and their mom are feeling, and I pray they will be able to heal when they return home.”
The three children and their mother were among seven people detained late last month as ICE began “enhanced targeted operations” in New York in March.
Federal agents arrived at North Harbor Dairy Farm in search of a 43-year-old South African man wanted on child porn charges, according to The Associated Press. That man was arrested. Six other people suspected of being in the country illegally, including the woman and her three kids, were arrested as well.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection said that the seven were detained, processed, turned over to ICE and transferred out of New York state for removal proceedings, according to North Country Public Radio.
The detention of the family was quickly denounced by government and school officials.
“I cannot think of any public safety justification for ICE agents to rip an innocent family, including a child in the third grade, from their Sackets Harbor home. That is not the immigration enforcement promised to the American people. It’s just plain cruel. I want this family returned to New York state and believe ICE needs to immediately answer for these actions,” Hochul said.
“These kids are classmates, they are good friends, they are wonderful students, and they are part of the fabric of our school community, and they just need to be returned to their classrooms,” Sackets Harbor Superintendent Jennifer Gaffney said, according to NCPR.
The community also rallied, with more than 1,000 people showing up Saturday in the Upstate village in support of the family. The crowd gathered near Homan’s Sackets Harbor home.
News of the family’s return to Upstate New York was greeted with relief by officials.
“In the midst of this difficult time, the strength, compassion, and resilience of our community have shone through,” Gaffney said, according to NCPR. “We are very thankful to everyone who has reached out with kindness and offered support.”
“I am pleased to share that the family at the center of this recent federal immigration matter is being returned home. Federal authorities have confirmed that the family will be returned safely ― an outcome we are all profoundly grateful to occur,” Assemblyman Scott Gray, R-Watertown said, according to NNY360. Hochul said that Gray “played a critical role in this process advocating for his constituents.”
“It is a huge relief that this family is on their way back home to Sackets Harbor,” Mabel Tso, senior education strategist for the New York Civil Liberties Union, said in an email statement. “No one ― let alone a mother with three children ― should ever have to experience ICE agents busting down your door, ripping you from home, and sending you thousands of miles away to a detention facility. It’s a level of inhumanity and cruelty that sends shockwaves.”
The identity of the family has not been made public.
