A federal lawsuit filed Thursday challenges the scope and execution of a large-scale immigration enforcement operation at an upstate New York food manufacturing plant, alleging that agents exceeded their warrant authority. The legal action follows the release of body camera footage analyzed by The Associated Press, which provides detailed visual evidence of the September 2025 raid on the Nutrition Bar Confectioners facility in Cato, New York.
The suit was filed by the New York Civil Liberties Union and the Worker Justice Center of New York. Perry Grossman, a supervising attorney with the NYCLU, argued that federal officers detained approximately 100 individuals for nonconsensual questioning without specific arrest warrants or individualized suspicion of criminal activity.
Raid Execution and Arrests
Federal agents from multiple agencies, including Immigration Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations unit, U.S. Border Patrol, and ICE’s removal division, arrived at the plant shortly after 9 a.m. The facility is located in Cato, a town of roughly 2,500 residents east of Syracuse.
According to the body camera footage, officers ordered a plant manager to announce their presence over the facility’s loudspeaker system. Agents then moved through the production lines, warehouse areas, and restrooms to separate employees based on immigration status.
Federal authorities made 57 immigration arrests during the operation. Officers requested identification documents and questioned workers about how they entered the United States. Those who refused to answer questions without legal representation were taken into custody.
U.S. citizens were required to provide personal information, including home addresses and phone numbers, before being permitted to leave the premises. The footage shows agents debating which files to seize and when to release citizens who could verify their status.
Allegations of Excessive Force
The lawsuit contends that the operation violated constitutional protections against unlawful search and seizure. Video evidence captured a tense moment when male officers confronted female employees behind a locked bathroom door.
Officers shouted instructions in broken Spanish before breaking through the door approximately 10 seconds later. One agent told a woman, “Miss, pull up your pants. Come out of the bathroom,” according to the footage reviewed by The Associated Press, as first reported by the Idaho Press.
The legal filing also highlights language used by a Border Patrol agent during the raid. The officer made disparaging remarks about children from other countries while discussing his prior experience at a detention center in South Texas. He criticized the Biden administration for allowing millions of individuals to enter the country from nations where child welfare standards differ from U.S. norms.
Legal Outcomes and Charges
While 57 individuals were arrested, criminal charges were filed against only five of them. The most serious charge brought was unlawful reentry into the United States. One employee had her charges dismissed after arguing that her Fourth Amendment rights had been violated during the detention.
“There were no arrest warrants,” Grossman stated regarding the basis for the mass detentions. He noted that the agents did not have suspicion that specific workers had committed crimes prior to the raid.
The lawsuit names two employees who were subsequently deported as plaintiffs. Approximately 60 people were detained during the operation, with some facing immediate removal proceedings.
Federal Enforcement Context
The Cato raid occurred during a period of intensified workplace enforcement under the Trump administration. The largest such operation took place last year at a Hyundai electric vehicle plant in Georgia, resulting in nearly 500 arrests.
Homeland Security Investigations is responsible for conducting these types of workplace raids. The agency targets employers and worksites where unauthorized workers are believed to be present.
Grossman stated he was not aware of any criminal charges or indictments brought against the employers at the Nutrition Bar Confectioners plant. The focus of the legal challenge remains on the conduct of federal agents during the execution of the search warrants.
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to requests for comment regarding the body camera footage or the new lawsuit as of Thursday.
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