A horde of a thousand protesters marched to border czar Tom Homan’s residence in New York to demand the release of a mother and her three children who Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested during a search at a dairy farm.
The Jefferson County Democratic Committee organized the protest. New York Attorney General Letitia James supported the demonstration, issuing a message saying she was “heartbroken and angry” over the decision to detain the family on March 27 as authorities executed a search warrant for a separate investigation, NBC News reported.
The three children and mother were detained after Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents searched a dairy farm on March 27 during a separate child pornography investigation.
The New York Immigration Coalition, a nonprofit that campaigns for immigrant rights, told NBC News that the family is currently being held in Texas.
The protests included teachers and school officials who expressed concerns over the children’s absence from class.
Well, I was there. It was pretty much a nothing burger. Videos below. This little community isn't anything like the violent protests in the bigger cities. Didn't see any signs of the paid aggressive protestors. They were singing while someone played a guitar/banjo. One very… pic.twitter.com/pLvQryde67
— Gracelyn 🇺🇸 (@Gracelyn72) April 6, 2025
Tom Homan reveals that protestors alerted the cartels that he has another home in NY by protesting outside of it. That is the thanks he gets for pretty much sealing the border and putting his life on the line every single day for this country. pic.twitter.com/GmXfG9elli
— Insurrection Barbie (@DefiyantlyFree) April 6, 2025
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Homan explained that the operation “wasn’t a raid” but “a search warrant execution at a house where a family was found in the country illegally.”
He further asserted that ICE did “everything by the book” and “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.”
Several community members expressed concerns about the family detention. Educator Jamie Cook told NBC News, “I’ve driven [the children] to their house after tutoring sessions … I know them.”
Sackets Harbor Mayor Alex Morgia touted the peaceful nature of the demonstration. “Because we are in this small community together, I think it’s easier for us to be polite and respectful of each other’s opinions.”
Still, Homan is facing significant backlash over the incident at the dairy farm and his overall approach to illegal immigration.
The family has been transferred to Karnes County Immigration Processing Center in Texas, The Intercept reported. Superintendent Jennifer Gaffney said, “The reaction of our students is that they have been traumatized by this.”
Murad Awawdeh of the New York Immigration Coalition slammed the use of collateral detention. “They go in allegedly looking for someone else and then they’ll take whoever they can find just so they can meet their quota numbers that Donald Trump has put in place,” he said.
Before the protest occurred, Homan responded to news that people planned to stage the demonstration at his home. He told 7News that detaining the family was necessary to determine whether the children had been victimized by the child pornography operation.
Of the protests, Homan said, “they can rally and protest all they want, but I'm not gonna be bullied-- I'm not gonna be intimidated. We're gonna do our job."
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