ICE Detains Mother and Children in New York, but Family Released from Custody After Arrest

On Monday, the mother and kids who were arrested by immigration officials almost two weeks ago in the tiny New York community where Tom Homan, President Donald Trump’s “border czar,” resides, were freed.

Since the family was arrested on March 27 and sent to the Karnes County Detention Facility in Texas, Jennifer Gaffney, the director of the Sackets Harbor Central School District, where the children attend, had been spearheading attempts to secure their release.

“After eleven days of uncertainty, our students and their mother are returning home,” Gaffney stated in a statement Monday. “We remain committed to providing the care, understanding, and sensitivity necessary for all students and staff as we begin the healing process from this traumatic experience.”

Homan confirmed to New York Governor Kathy Hochul in a statement Monday afternoon that the family is “currently on their way back” to Sackets Harbor in Jefferson County.

“I cannot imagine the trauma these kids and their mom are feeling, and I pray they will be able to heal when they return home,” Hochul stated.

The Jefferson County Democratic Committee chairman, Corey DeCillis, who led a protest on Saturday calling for the family’s release, said he was “elated.”

The senior DHS official stated that on March 27, Homeland Security Investigations and Border Patrol agents were carrying out a criminal search warrant at Old McDonald’s Farm in Sackets Harbor as part of a continuing federal investigation into the distribution and possession of materials related to child sexual abuse.

The mother and her three children were among the seven illegal individuals detained by officials at the farm, according to the DHS source. The spokesman did not elaborate on how the arrested individuals were met by the authorities.

“Homeland Security Investigations immediately conducted an investigation to ensure these children were not being sexually exploited,” the official continued.

Hochul, school authorities, and immigrant rights groups resisted, asking why the children’s safety was guaranteed by arresting them and “disappearing them” from their neighborhood.

In an interview on Monday, New York Immigration Coalition President and CEO Murad Awawdeh described the Sackets Harbor family’s ordeal as “a very grueling and horrifying experience.”

The family “lived in a house on the same road as a home ICE had a warrant for,” according to an open letter written by Sackets Harbor Central School principal Jaime Cook last week. It is incomprehensible that ICE went door to door.

“The fact that our students were handcuffed and put into the same van as the alleged criminal from down the street is unconscionable,” according to Cook’s letter.

“I cannot think of any public safety justification for ICE agents to rip an innocent family, including a third-grade child, from their Sackets Harbor home,” Hochul stated on Tuesday.

According to Cook, the kids have been attending the school for three years and are currently in the third, tenth, and eleventh grades.

When immigration officials searched the Old McDonald’s Farm for a South African immigrant who has now been charged with distributing child pornography, they took the mother and her three children.

From March 24 to 28, Immigration and Customs Enforcement conducted a “enhanced targeted operation” in western, central, and northern New York, which included the arrest of the South African immigrant.

In an interview last week, Homan had justified the operation and the arrest of the family.

“ICE is doing everything by the book. Once the investigation gets to the point where we don’t have an interest in this family, then a decision will be made on release,” Homan stated.

Cook claimed that after 15 years of working at the farm, the family had been a part of Sackets Harbor for a long time.

According to her, the mother and children had also been “doing everything right” to figure out a way to lawfully stay in the United States, from attending their court appearances to declaring themselves to immigration courts.

Awawdeh expressed his optimism that the family will be able to successfully resume their efforts.

While the neighborhood waits for the family to return, Awawdeh stated that they are “a testament to how community support can really make a difference in helping secure the release of your neighbor.”

This information has been sourced from NBC News.