U.S. immigration agents carried out a new raid on a family-owned nutrition bar manufacturing company in Cato, New York.
According to several testimonies collected by CNN, the operation caused panic among employees and significantly slowed production.
Lenny Schmidt, co-founder and vice president of Nutrition Bar Confectioners, described the scene:
“The agents were swarming the plant. There were probably more than a hundred of them, on foot, on four-wheelers, with dogs,” he said.
Federal forces surrounded the site and forced their way through the doors. “They broke into the building… using, I think, crowbars,” Schmidt added during an interview with journalist Laura Coates.
After several hours of searches, dozens of employees had been taken into custody.
The operation is part of a nationwide campaign targeting workplaces suspected of employing undocumented workers.
Inside the plant, production came to a complete halt. Exits were sealed, and workers were confined to closed areas.
“They cornered all of our workers, seemingly targeting only the Hispanic employees,” Schmidt said. “Later, they escorted them into vans.”
A Guatemalan worker, a legal U.S. resident, confirmed the events. “They surrounded the building. Everyone was scared,” he testified.
According to him, the agents showed no warrant and gave no justification. “They asked us what country we were from, if we had permission to be in the U.S. They demanded papers.”
After presenting his ID card, he was released. But he noted that some colleagues with valid work permits were nevertheless taken away.
The company defends its compliance
Founded in 1978, Nutrition Bar Confectioners insists it complies with all legal requirements.
“We vet each person according to the laws in place and obtain the necessary documentation,” Schmidt stressed. “All of our employees have the required paperwork to work legally.”
However, ICE confirmed to local station WSTM that the intervention was part of a “court-authorized enforcement operation.” The agency provided no further details. Around 60 people were reportedly detained, according to witnesses interviewed by CNN.
This raid was not an isolated case. On the same day, a similar operation took place in Ellabell, Georgia, at a Hyundai facility. According to authorities, 475 workers, mostly Korean nationals, were detained. It was the largest operation to date under President Donald Trump’s strict immigration policy targeting workplaces.
In recent months, the administration has increasingly focused on industries such as manufacturing and agriculture, where immigrant labor is often predominant.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul strongly condemned the Cato raid:
“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.
Workers left traumatized
Beyond the arrests, the human impact was severe. Some released employees returned to work almost immediately.
“It’s heartbreaking… I saw one of them clocking in when he came back. I was shaken. I shook his hand and gave him a hug,” Schmidt said, noting that production was heavily disrupted.
“We’ll probably be running at half capacity, or less, until we hopefully get some of these workers back,” the vice president of Nutrition Bar Confectioners told CNN.
The company plans to launch a recruitment drive this weekend to replace the detained workers. But for Schmidt, the future looks bleak.
“What makes us successful are these wonderful workers. We hope and pray for them to be safe, to return to their families and, hopefully, to work.”
The small town of Cato, located 30 miles from Syracuse, relies heavily on the plant’s activity. The raid sent shockwaves through the rural community, where many immigrants — especially from Guatemala and Nicaragua — play a vital role in the local economy, CNN noted.
https://ctninfo.com/?p=36710&preview=true
Source: CNN
