What Happened and the Human Cost

ICE agents, accompanied by Cayuga County Sheriff’s deputies, corralled workers into the lunchroom and demanded documentation without prior warning and without sensitivity. One legal resident, fearful for his partner who lacked status, described the horror of seeing his co-workers led away. Mothers were separated from their children. Families did not know where their loved ones were being taken.

Local authorities, including the Cayuga and Oswego Sheriffs, claim they were just providing security or managing traffic, but families spent more than 20 hours trying to locate their loved ones. That is not just an oversight. That is callous negligence.

Why These Raids Are Wrong and Costly

We should be ashamed that raids like these continue.

• They do not make us any safer. Governor Hochul rightly said these actions fly in the face of New York’s values. They shattered hard-working families.

• They waste resources and sow terror. Suddenly removing workers in unmarked vehicles without clear communication or consideration does nothing to protect the public. It does everything to traumatize our neighbors.

• They undermine trust in law enforcement. Central New Yorkers value empathy, fairness, and transparency. Masked interventions feel more like occupation than justice.

Accountability Must Start Locally

I am furious, and not just at ICE. I am angry with the Cayuga and Oswego Sheriff Departments. Their cooperation facilitated the trauma, and yet families were ignored, redirected, or left in limbo.

• Cayuga Sheriff Brian Schenck defended his team’s involvement, citing a federal request for assistance, but he gave no follow-up, no explanation, and no accountability to terrified families.

• The Oswego County Sheriff’s Office outright denied knowledge of raids in Volney, even as raids in nearby Cato led to actual detentions. That dissonance smacks of indifference, not protection.

To make matters worse, the New York State Attorney General is investigating the Oswego Sheriff’s Office for possible civil rights violations in their cooperation with federal immigration authorities. This raises serious questions about whether they have upheld the rights of the very residents they are supposed to serve.

What We Must Do

We must demand accountability.
Our sheriffs must be transparent. They must release details. Why did they assist? What directives did they receive? Were the rights of those detained upheld? Why were families left in the dark for nearly a full day? What the F**k?

We must demand compassion.
Neighbors in Central New York are not threats. Even Republicans in bright red Cato, NY, are outraged. These people detained make our community stronger. They contribute. They work. They love. They are us. Everyone, even those without papers, deserves basic dignity, information, and humane treatment. No one is illegal on stolen land.

We must build bridges, not walls.
Our community thrives when we support one another, not when we tear each other apart. These raids fracture families and communities for no real gain. It is a tragedy that could have been avoided with a better approach. We need leadership that acknowledges we a stronger, together.