Trump Border Czar’s Neighbors Released From ICE Custody After Uproar
A mother and her three children were detained after officers went door-to-door looking for a suspected criminal.
John Lamparski/Getty Images
A woman and her three children have been released from ICE custody after protests rocked the small New York town where President Donald Trump’s border czar lives.
Officers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement had detained the woman and her kids—who are in third, 10th, and 11th grade—on March 27 as part of an unrelated criminal case and sent them to a federal lockup in Texas.
Their arrests “shocked” the tight-knit community of Sackets Harbor, a town of 1,450 people on the eastern shore of Lake Ontario where border czar Tom Homan has a home, the children’s principal wrote in a viral social media post.
Protesters gathered outside Homan’s house, and about 1,000 people marched in a rally Saturday demanding the family be brought home.
Authorities released the mother and her children on Monday without saying what prompted their return. Homan had previously told reporters the family was in the country illegally and that ICE officials had done “everything by the book.”
Get the best of The Beast delivered right to your inbox
By clicking “SUBSCRIBE” you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
The Daily Beast has reached out to ICE for comment.
Sackets Harbor, N.Y. Pre-K-12 Principal Jaime Cookhttps://t.co/SC4fk3BjBB pic.twitter.com/Pv2qAlJzUo
— Benjamin Kail (@BenKail) April 5, 2025
“Sometimes when you serve a warrant in a criminal investigation, there’s other people in the vicinity that have to be detained for questioning and safety reasons. But it’s part of the job,” he told local TV station WWNY.
The officers were searching for a South African man accused of distributing images of sexual abuse who lived on the same street as the family, the AP reported. They arrested him along with seven other people suspected of being in the country illegally.
“The fact that our students were handcuffed and put into the same van as the alleged criminal from down the street is unconscionable,” principal Jaime Cook wrote in her statement. “When I think of my third grader’s experience, my stomach twists and it is hard to breathe.”
She wrote that although the family had entered the country illegally, they had “done everything right,” including declaring themselves to immigration judges, attending their assigned court dates and following the legal process.
“They are loved in their classrooms,” she wrote. “Their family has worked at the nearby ‘Old McDonald’s’ petting zoo and dairy farm for 15 years.”
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said Homan had informed her on Monday that the family was returning to upstate New York, the AP reported.
“New York has been consistent: we are open to working with federal immigration enforcement to crack down on gang members or violent criminals,” Hochul said in a statement. “But I will never support cruel actions that rip kids out of school or tear families apart.”
See more of our coverage in your search results.
Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here.
Register below to read this article for free or subscribe
to unlock unlimited access to The Daily Beast.
Monthly
$1
First month then $5.99/month
Annual
$35
First year then $59.99/year
Premium
$79
First year then $119.99/year
*Substack access provided by the next business day, using your subscription email. Choosing the Premium plan constitutes your permission to share your subscription email with Substack and your agreement to Substack’s Privacy Policy.
Already have an account? Sign In
Looks like you already have a subscription!
You're all set!
Thanks for subscribing.