A mother and her three children are returning to the Sackets Harbor area in Jefferson County after ICE removed them from their home during a raid last month and held them in Karnes County Detention Facility in Texas, Assemblyman Scott Gray and the kids’ school superintendent said Monday.
The announcement was made two days after Sackets Harbor school Principal Jaime Cook blasted ICE’s actions in taking the family as “unfathomable” and “unconscionable,” and urged for their release in an open letter to the community.
ICE made the decision to release the family, Gray said in a statement Monday.
“I am pleased to share that the family at the center of this recent federal immigration matter is being returned home. Federal authorities have confirmed that the family will be returned safely — an outcome we are all profoundly grateful to occur,” said Gray.
Gov. Kathy Hochul last week had also called for the release of the family – a mother and her three children (grades 3, 10 and 11), who were detained during a recent ICE raid on a farm in Jefferson County. The area is home to President Donald Trump’s “border czar” Tom Homan.
Hochul said Monday afternoon that Homan had informed her the mother, third grader and two teenagers were on their way back to Jefferson County.
On Saturday, saying she needed to speak plainly, Cook wrote that the community was united in shock and calling for the family’s return.
“We deserve better than spin and misinformation,” Cook said.
She said the family had been doing everything right.
“They had declared themselves to immigration judges, attended court on their assigned dates, and were following the legal process,” Cook said.
They are not criminals, nor do they have ties to criminal activity, she stated. The family has worked at the nearby “Old McDonald’s” petting zoo and dairy farm for 15 years, she said.
“The fact that ICE went to their door is unfathomable. The fact that our students were handcuffed and put into the same van as the alleged criminal from down the street is unconscionable,” Cook said.
Gray said the family will be released following a health review, follow-up with ICE and an investigative interview with the case agent in charge of the investigation.
“While we welcome the resolution, it is despite the spread of misinformation from many sources surrounding this case,” Gray said, adding that this has been “a difficult and emotional matter for many.”
Sackets Harbor Superintendent Jennifer Gaffney said school employees were thrilled the family is headed home.
“We are committed to providing the care, understanding, and sensitivity necessary for our students and staff to begin the healing process from this traumatic experience. In this difficult time, the strength and compassion of our community have shone through to support our missing family and the entire school community,” she said.
