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ICE agents detained 57 workers in a Cato, NY factory raid; judge found warrants didn't authorize the detentions

On September 4, 2025, roughly 60 armed federal agents, supported by the Cayuga and Oswego County sheriff's offices, raided the Nutrition Bar Confectioners factory in Cato, New York and detained 57 of the roughly 160 workers present, though supporting affidavits named or described fewer than 10 potentially undocumented individuals. Fifty-two of the 57 were deported and five were charged with illegal re-entry; U.S. District Judge Brenda K. Sannes later found that the two warrants used authorized only the seizure of business records and the questioning of workers, not their detention, and ruled that agents violated the Fourth Amendment rights of one charged worker, Argentina Juarez-Lopez.

Jurisdiction
Federal
Location
Cato, New York

Abuses documented

Actors

On the morning of September 4, 2025, roughly 60 armed federal agents -- supported by local law enforcement from the Cayuga and Oswego County sheriff's offices -- raided the Nutrition Bar Confectioners factory in Cato, New York. About 160 workers were present. Agents used crowbars to force open doors and, according to the NYCLU, forced open a locked bathroom stall while a woman was inside, then rounded up nearly the entire workforce for questioning about citizenship and immigration status. Fifty-seven workers were detained, even though the government affidavits submitted to obtain the warrants named or described fewer than 10 potentially undocumented individuals at the facility -- a gap the NYCLU called "an unconstitutional dragnet search for immigrants." By September 9, acting U.S. Attorney John Sarcone III said all 57 detainees were unlawfully present; 52 had already been flown back to their countries of origin, and the remaining five, including Argentina Juarez-Lopez, were charged with illegally re-entering the United States after a prior removal.

The NYCLU later fought to unseal the warrants agents used, and the documents showed the agents had exceeded their authority. One warrant permitted only the seizure of business records, financial documents, and electronics; the other authorized agents to "approach and question" workers but did not authorize detaining them. Body-camera footage cited by the NYCLU shows a Cayuga County Sheriff's deputy remarking to a Customs and Border Protection agent that something looked off about the warrant being used to justify the sweep.

Updates

2025-12-18 — Judge ruled ICE lacked warrant authority to detain worker [2]

U.S. District Judge Brenda K. Sannes (N.D.N.Y.) ruled that ICE agents violated Argentina Juarez-Lopez's Fourth Amendment rights during the raid, finding the two warrants used did not authorize her detention -- one covered only seizure of business records, the other permitted questioning but not detention. Bodycam video showed Juarez-Lopez asked for a lawyer before agents detained her. Sannes granted her motion to suppress all evidence collected after her arrest.

2025-12-30 — Charge against Juarez-Lopez dismissed; four co-defendants sentenced [3]

Acting U.S. Attorney John Sarcone and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche filed court documents dismissing the illegal re-entry charge against Juarez-Lopez following the suppression ruling. She remained in ICE custody at the Allegany County jail. The four other workers charged after the raid -- Alex Ben Chipin, Luis Jom-Morales, Gregorio Baldemar Ramirez-Perez, and Francisco Salvardo-Mora -- received sentences ranging from time served to three months, after which they face deportation.

Why we recorded this

The Fourth Amendment requires that a warrant actually authorize what agents do with it, and that protection applies to citizens and non-citizens alike. A federal judge found that ICE agents raiding a Cato, New York factory detained a worker under warrants that authorized only the seizure of business records and the questioning -- not detention -- of employees, then held 57 people despite affidavits describing fewer than 10 potentially undocumented workers. This archive records when agents detain people beyond what any warrant permits, because a court had to grant a suppression motion to establish that basic limit after the fact.

Sources

  1. In a Cato, NY Factory Raid, Officers Conducted an Unconstitutional Dragnet Search for Immigrants and Violated 160 Workers' Rights — NYCLU investigative accessed September 8, 2026
  2. Federal judge rules ICE violated Fourth Amendment in Cato immigration raid — CNY Central primary accessed September 8, 2026
  3. Criminal charge dismissed against Cayuga County worker detained in ICE raid — Spectrum News 1 primary accessed September 8, 2026

See also