A mother and three children enrolled at Sackets Harbor Central School were among seven people detained by federal immigration authorities at a dairy farm in Jefferson County in late March.
U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement began “enhanced targeted operations” in New York in March, the agency said.
The operations included a visit to North Harbor Dairy in the Jefferson County town of Hounsfield, according to North Country Public Radio.
During the investigation at the farm, agents found seven people who were in the U.S. illegally.
Agents took the individuals into custody and processed them. They have since been transferred out of New York state and are awaiting removal proceedings, NCPR said.
The Sackets Harbor Central School District confirmed that the individuals included three children enrolled there: one child in the elementary school and two in the high school, one of whom was processed as an adult.
The mother of the children was also detained.
“Basically, law enforcement was executing a warrant for a person who was allegedly involved in a crime. This happened at a local farm within my school district boundaries,” Sackets Harbor Superintendent Jennifer Gaffney said, according to NCPR. “My students were caught in the middle of that raid, and they were taken and detained.
“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.”
Gaffney said the kids’ friends are wondering where they are. Their teachers are distraught, according to Spectrum News.
Gaffney also released a statement saying the district wants the kids back in its classrooms as soon as possible, according to Spectrum.
“It is horrifying that these children and their mother were snatched from their home and disappeared,” Murad Awawdeh, president and CEO of the The New York Immigration Coalition, said in a statement, according to NBC News.
Gov. Kathy Hochul also weighed in.
She said in a statement she has worked with multiple administrations on immigration, but could not think of any public safety justification for agents to take a family, including kids, from their home.
“That is not the immigration enforcement promised to the American people. It’s just plain cruel,” Hochul said, according to NBC. “I want this family returned to New York state and believe ICE needs to immediately answer for these actions.”
Members of the Jefferson County Democratic Committee are planning a rally to support the students.
It is set for Saturday at 2 p.m. in Sackets Harbor. The rally will end in front of the home of Tom Homan, President Donald Trump’s border czar, which is in Sackets Harbor.
“He lives in that community and he is a North Country native, so this is right in his backyard. And it’s shameful,” Corey DeCillis, chairman of the Jefferson County Democratic Committee, said, according to NCPR. “Obviously this is the administration’s policy, but I really think they’re going about it the total wrong way, and he needs to understand this is his backyard and his community and he’s impacting it greatly.”
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