BURSTNew York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) said it was “just plain cruel” for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to detain a family, including a child in third grade, from their home in upstate New York.
In a Tuesday statement, Hochul said she is willing to work with the Trump administration on immigration enforcement but said this latest incident went too far by targeting an “innocent family.”
“Under Presidents Biden and Trump, I have been clear that I would work with the federal government to help secure our borders and deport violent criminals who pose a threat. But 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,” Hochul wrote in a statement.
“That is not the immigration enforcement promised to the American people," she continued. "It's just plain cruel."
Hochul called for the family to be released from custody.
“I want this family returned to New York State and believe ICE needs to immediately answer for these actions,” Hochul said.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) confirmed in a statement to local outlets that, in the course of a separate investigation in Sackets Harbor, N.Y., Border Patrol agents “encountered seven individuals determined to be in the United States illegally, including two minors."
“These individuals were not part of the original investigation but were taken into custody, processed, and subsequently turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE),” the statement continued.
The CBP statement noted that the seven individuals have already been transferred out of the state “and are currently awaiting removal proceedings.”
Three of the individuals, according to school Superintendent Jennifer Gaffney, are students in the Sackets Harbor school system.
Gaffney, in a statement to the school community reported by local outlets, pledged to leave “no stone unturned in our efforts to ensure their return to our school.”
President Trump’s so-called border czar, Tom Homan, lives in the Sackets Harbor school district, according to local outlets. The local county’s Democratic Party is helping promote a rally this Saturday, at which supporters will march from the local visitor’s center to Homan’s house.
The Trump administration has prioritized its immigration enforcement since the president took office in January. The government's bold tactics have been derided by political opponents but praised by supporters as effective.
The Hill has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security and CBP for comment.