Immigration raids in upstate New York this week resulted in the detention of more than 40 people, drawing criticism from Gov. Kathy Hochul.
According to the group, up to 70 employees, described as “virtually the entire workforce,” were led into the kitchen area, where “workers were questioned one by one over the course of many hours. At this point, nearly all have been arrested and sent to the Oswego Detention Center. Several friends and family members of our staff were among those arrested.”
Nutrition Bar Confectioners’ Cato facility spans 65,000 square feet and is located roughly 25 miles from Syracuse, and is near major interstate routes. The company’s website states it can produce up to 200,000 bars per shift, with a maximum estimated annual output of 300 million bars. NTD has reached out to Nutrition Bar Confectioners for comment.
Mark Schmidt, the principal owner of Nutrition Bar Confectioners, was quoted as saying that all his workers had legal documentation to work in the United States and that the operation was “overkill.”
Hochul emphasized that the raids were against New York’s values. “The 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,” she said.
NTD has reached out to ICE for comment. An ICE Homeland Security Investigations spokesperson was quoted as saying by media that the step was part of “court-authorized enforcement actions.”
“While we cannot comment further about this specific ongoing criminal investigation at this time, ICE HSI remains committed to protecting the rights of workers and upholding U.S. laws,” the spokesperson’s statement cited in Spectrum News 1.
Reuters contributed to this report.Â
