ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10)—At the U.S. Northern District of New York Courthouse in Albany, the acting U.S. Attorney spoke to reporters about an immigration raid at a food processing plant in Central New York.
According to Acting U.S. Attorney, John Sarcone, of the 57 people detained in Cayuga County, five have been criminally charged.
“Among those detained, five have been criminally charged for illegally re-entering the United States after prior removal, which is a felony,” said Sarcone.
Those five include four people from Guatemala and one from Mexico. The other 52 are pending immigration proceedings, but Sarcone said he thinks they are going back to their country of origin.
In a statement on Thursday, Governor Hochul mentioned that some who were seized are parents.
She said there were, “ …at least a dozen children at risk of returning from school to an empty house.” Hochul went on to say, “I’ve made it clear: 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.”
“No kid went home to an empty house,” Sarcone said in response to a question about the governor’s statement.
According to Sarcone, homeland security had child protective services involved. He put blame on their parents.
“They had notice and they’ve done this to themselves. They’ve done this to their families. They’re the ones responsible.” He also said, “If you have children and you’re here illegally. Don’t do it. Go back home, apply, and let the process work.”
For New York York employers, he shared the following message.
“Heed this warning. We will aggressively pursue a criminal investigation against those who violate our laws by employing non-citizens without authorization. There will be consequences.”
When asked by reporter, Jamie DeLine, what the exact consequences would be for employers, he responded by saying, “We don’t have all of the information about the employer yet. But you can imagine— did they follow the law in all regards? Were they paying workers compensation insurance? Are they paying fair wages? Were they providing benefits— sick time and all the usual things that employers do. So we don’t know any of that, but once we do, we will reveal that.”
He said to expect more federal law enforcement at worksites in the future.
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