Mother deported despite bond among 57 arrested in New York factory raid
Over 60 agents raided a Cato, New York snack factory, arresting 57 workers including pregnant women and mothers. Juana Castillo Avelar, a mother of three U.S. citizen children living here over 20 years, was deported despite being granted bond.
Sep 3, 2026Cato, NYCountry of origin: Guatemala

More than 60 federal agents raided the Nutrition Bar Confectioners plant in Cato, New York in September 2025, herding roughly 160 workers into a breakroom and arresting 57 of about 100 people questioned, including pregnant women and mothers of young children. Body camera footage later released in a lawsuit showed agents breaking down a locked bathroom stall door to remove a female employee and separating workers by citizenship status, with some told they would be arrested if they asked for an attorney. Argentina Juarez-Lopez, 50, invoked her right to counsel, but an agent falsely claimed she confessed without one; a federal judge called the conduct 'grossly negligent' and suppressed the evidence, yet she was deported after her case was dismissed. Juana Castillo Avelar, a mother of three U.S. citizen children who had lived in the U.S. over 20 years, was granted $9,000 bond but was deported before ICE would release her, based on a false claim she had appealed. Only five of the 57 arrested faced criminal charges, mostly for illegal reentry, and no charges have been filed against the company. The New York Civil Liberties Union and the Worker Justice Center of New York filed a lawsuit alleging officers lacked arrest warrants, exceeded search warrant authority, and violated workers' Fourth Amendment rights; one deported plaintiff has since been allowed to reenter the country while attorneys for another seek his return.
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Sources
- Body camera video offers a rare look inside an immigration raid at a New York factory
Los Angeles Times·Sep 11, 2026
- ICE Raid That Shook NY Town Sparks Scrutiny a Year Later (1)
Bloomberg Law News·Sep 3, 2026·archived copy
- Body camera video offers a rare look inside an immigration raid at a NY factory
Daily Freeman·Sep 10, 2026·archived copy
WTOP·Sep 11, 2026
KSAT·Sep 10, 2026
NBC New York·Sep 11, 2026
Jamaica Gleaner·Sep 13, 2026
- Body camera video offers a rare look inside an immigration raid at Cayuga County factory
WRVO·Sep 11, 2026
- Cato, NY ICE Raid Violated Workers’ Rights: NYCLU Lawsuit
- Bodycam footage shows immigration raid at NY snack factory ending in 57 arrests
New York Post·Sep 15, 2026
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