Essex County
Lake Placid. July 27, 2026. A resident of Lake Placid was detained just after attending his immigration hearing in Buffalo. This Venezuelan man had valid work authorization and was paying taxes. After being detained in the Batavia Detention Facility for a number of days, he signed voluntary departure paperwork.
Lake Placid. July 8, 2026. A man was detained by ICE while taking out the trash behind the hotel where he worked in Lake Placid. He had no opportunity to identify himself or present his documents. He was initially held at the Batavia Detention facility before being transferred out of New York to facilities In Pennsylvania and Michigan. He had entered the United States from Venezuela in 2021 on a tourist visa, applied for political asylum, then received employment authorization and a Social Security number. On 8/19, he was approved for bond and is continuing to pursue his asylum.
Lake Placid. July 7, 2026. A man was detained by ICE while working on the exterior of a business during the early morning hours. This man of Honduran descent had valid working papers and was paying taxes here in the United States. He was taken to Batavia Detention Facility and was held there for a number of weeks. His current whereabouts is unknown.
Saranac Lake. June 2, 2026. Multiple unmarked vehicles pulled over two vehicles filled with employees of a restaurant in Lake Placid while they were driving from Saranac Lake to their work. Seven employees were detained by ICE and were not allowed to show their documents regardless of the fact that they had work authorization, social security numbers, and paid taxes. They were detained in Batavia and then moved to Louisiana and Mississippi the day before their bond hearing. Three of the men signed self-departure papers, one was released on bond, one’s bond was denied and is in detention waiting for a second hearing, and the last two are still being held in detention. Their Indian restaurant in Lake Placid lost all their workers and has struggled to open the doors during the busiest season of the year.
Lake Placid. May 28, 2026. A large ICE presence in a parking lot in Lake Placid led to an early morning detainment of 14 individuals - a majority were subcontractors of a roofing company working on a hotel in town. The scene was brutally violent with individuals chased, slammed to the ground and kneed in the face. Individuals were not allowed to show documents. It is thought that all the roofing company workers have been deported. At this same raid, one long-term resident and employee of a Lake Placid hotel (who had work authorization documents and paid taxes) was taken to Batavia Detention Center. Two weeks later he was released on bond but is required to wear a large ankle monitor and check in with ICE regularly (initially weekly and then every couple of months).
Lake Placid, December 28, 2025. A business owner from Lake Placid was apprehended when she went to the Immigration Office in Champlain, NY for her regular check-in, as is her practice. She paid taxes, went to every immigration check-in and filed every paper required, owned a business and a house with her partner, and had been a meaningful part of the community. After five months in detention, she signed self-departure papers and returned to Indonesia, her country of origin. Her partner joined her after selling their restaurant and home.
Warren County
Queensbury. July 26, 2026. A refugee from Peru was detained and taken to the ICE detention center in Batavia. He came to the U.S. from Peru in 2022, fleeing leftist guerrillas who had killed his father and sister and were threatening his life. He was pursuing an asylum claim to stay in the US. A habeas petition was filed challenging his detention. He is asking for voluntary deportation, willing to face the risks in Peru rather than face prolonged detention under terrible conditions here in the US.
Glens Falls. In the spring of 2026 an immigrant family from Colombia was threatened with deportation. In 2024 they had purchased a plumbing business in the area and to maintain stable immigration status, they hired an immigration attorney to assure stable B-2 visas, while helping them apply for E-2 visas. At their most recent B-2 visa renewal meeting, their application was refused, the E-2 application denied, and a letter of intent to have them deported was issued by ICE.
Queensbury. June 21, 2025. A possible ICE raid occurred over a weekend at the Red Roof Inn (191 Corinth Road) in Queensbury. Reports suggest that between 10 and 15 people were detained. There was also an alleged ICE Raid at the Ambrosia Diner in Queensbury.
Clinton County
Plattsburgh. June 18, 2026. A Venezuelan man was detained in Plattsburgh when he pulled his car over to the side of the road. The man was told he had been followed by ICE for the previous three hours, from Lake Placid to Saranac Lake to Plattsburgh; and that ICE had been tracking him for days. He had a pending asylum case and was working and living in Lake Placid with valid work authorization. He was also paying taxes. After a few days in the Batavia Detention Facility, he signed self- departure papers.
Plattsburgh. June 4, 2026. After dropping off his child at school in the morning, a Peruvian father and resident of Plattsburgh who worked at a local restaurant returned to his apartment and was immediately surrounded by five ICE vehicles. He was detained in Batavia and Louisiana detention facilities. After weeks, he signed self-removal papers. His family and three young children returned to their country of origin. He had legal working papers, was paying taxes, and had a pending asylum case.
Traffic Stop on I-87. October 27, 2025. NYS police pulled over two individuals (residents of Lake Placid) for speeding on 1-87 as they were traveling to Plattsburgh. It took a while due to vehicle registration issues and ICE showed up. The individuals told the officer they had legal status. ICE threatened to send the two to prison in El Salvador if they didn't self-deport. They kept insisting they were legal but threats increased. After many days of being detained and being transferred to Batavia Detention Center. They were concerned about their mental and physical health (along with finding out that they would be detained for months to years before ever being granted a hearing), they decided to self-deport and were sent to Venezuela despite being Colombian citizens.
Franklin County
Malone. December 29, 2025. A Venezuelan woman was apprehended by ICE while walking to Walmart in Malone with her family. She was detained after being reported by a citizen for allegedly residing in the country illegally. She was processed for deportation under ICE custody. She had followed the steps laid out by the immigration laws, received working papers and social security numbers and paid taxes into the system. She applied for and was denied asylum. She was told she would be promptly deported to Venezuela. However, for four months she was moved through multiple facilities across the country in deplorable conditions until she was deported.
Tupper Lake. February 18-20, 2025 nine employees of the Quebec-based Matra Group were arrested by ICE agents at Tupper Lake Pine Mill in Tupper Lake NY. The company claims the employees were all authorized to work in the US via the I-9 process. They were allegedly deported with whereabouts unknown. The Tupper Lake Village Police were notified by ICE of the raid but were not asked to get involved. The Mill owners said they were not notified and no warrant was issued by ICE.
Washington County
Whitehall, October 27, 2025. Four individuals who worked for a granite quarry and five people who worked for a wood manufacturing facility were detained by ICE. The businesses believed that the tenth person had an outstanding legal matter and that he was the target; the nine others were collateral damage.
St. Lawrence County
Potsdam. June 10, 2025. There were raids at two nail salons in Potsdam – Top Nails and The Paint Lab. Eyewitnesses reported unmarked vehicles and a sheriff’s vehicle, police presence, and plainclothes officers, some armed, in front of the salons. One witness said two people were escorted out of the salon in handcuffs, while one was already in a vehicle. The raids were characterized by law enforcement agencies as part of a “victim-centered investigation.”
Sackets Harbor, March 24, 2025. At the North Harbor Dairy Farm seven people were detained, including a mother and her three school-age children. They were processed by the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on Wellesley Island, then transferred to ICE custody in Texas. Local community members and officials had urgent concern about the well-being and legal rights of the children and directed their efforts to Border Czar Tom Homan. Governor Hochul became involved citing they had been following legal immigration procedures. Mother and children were returned home on April 7, 2025 after spending a week in the Texas detention center without a clear explanation for why they were detained in the first place.
