Officers from Immigrations and Customs Enforcement targeted a farmworker in Rome, New York, Marcial de Leon Aguilar, in an early morning confrontation Wednesday. The officers detained Aguilar while his employer, farmer John Collins, attempted to film the incident.
Two of Aguilar’s children watched their father’s arrest as they waited for their school bus. Collins said that Aguilar had proper documentation to work on the farm, and that his wife and children had recently come to the United States from Guatemala. Aguilar and his wife were regularly meeting with ICE officers after his wife entered the country illegally.
Collins said the ICE officers did not provide a warrant, which they’re required to do before entering private property. He also said that while he was attempting to film the arrest, an officer grabbed his phone and threw it into the road. “This was something you see on TV,” Collins told Syracuse.com. “You don’t expect it to be here.”
The arrest comes as escalating ICE raids send fear into many farming communities. Just two weeks ago, 97 immigrants were arrested in a raid at a meatpacking plant in Tennessee. ICE raids can have a long-term effect on the ability of such operations to hire immigrant workers.