Three days after federal immigration agents detained Hediberto Ramirez Perez following a raid at the Nutrition Bar Confectioner’s raid last September in Cayuga County, he found himself in Guatemala — thousands of miles away from his family despite have a valid work permit.
Now, the New York Civil Liberties Union is now arguing that he should be returned while a lawsuit against the government over that raid plays out in court.
The NYCLU argues the raid at the factory violated “Eddie” Ramirez Perez’s Fourth Amendment rights, and that his arrest was “warrantless.”
“Defendants had no legal authority to remove Eddie, whose cancellation of removal application was (and is) pending and who had no final order of removal at that time,” the preliminary injunction request reads.
In the case of Argentina Juarez-Lopez, a woman who was detained and charged with illegal reentry into the U.S. during the raid, a judge ruled in December 2025 that the actions by immigration officials violated her Fourth Amendment rights, leading to federal prosecutors dropping the felony charge of illegal reentry. Juarez-Lopez was still deported despite the felony charge being dropped.
The motion for an injunction comes after the NYCLU filed a lawsuit last week against individual agents for the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Cayuga and Oswego County sheriff’s departments and the Trump administration for last year’s raid.
“Eddie requests that defendants facilitate his return to the United States by providing him with travel documents to permit his lawful admission at a port of entry and his travel to this judicial district,” the document reads.
In response to the move for a preliminary injunction, a DHS spokesperson sent the following statement:
“ICE will comply with all lawful court orders,” the spokesperson said.
Spectrum News 1 spoke with Ramirez Perez following the raid last year.
“I told them immediately I had a case with immigration and that I also have working papers, and I was legally working here, and they said, ‘We don’t care about that for the moment. You still have to go with us,’” Ramirez Perez said.
Ramirez Perez is married to a U.S. citizen, and has two sons who were born in the U.S. Since he was deported over a year ago, his family has suffered “irreparable harm,” the injunction argued.
“Every day that Eddie remains stranded in Guatemala, separated from his wife and children deepens the irreparable harm that he and his family suffer as a direct consequence of his unconstitutional removal,” it reads.
Additionally, it says Ramirez Perez has lost 45 pounds since his deportation, and his family struggles to pay the bills on one income. His wife and kids also can’t afford to visit him in Guatemala.
“Eddie’s family wants and needs him home,” the injunction reads.
In addition to the federal court case, Jose Perez, Ramirez Perez’s immigration lawyer, said he has been working to get him back with his family as well.
“His wife petitioned for him. The petition has been approved but there is a process that he needs to go through. It’s called the I-601 waiver process, in which it probably takes two years for him to be able to come [back],” Perez said.
Perez echoed the fact that Ramirez Perez had legal authority to be in the U.S. when he was deported by federal immigration authorities.
“He did have an immigration case, he had a work permit, he had a Social Security number, and they were legally able to be at that factory on that day,” Perez said.
In response to an inquiry about an Upstate researcher who was detained by federal authorities, DHS shared this statement.
“To be clear: a pending application or work authorization does NOT confer legal status in the United States,” the spokesperson said.
Affidavits obtained by Spectrum News 1 said federal officials were investigating the owners of the Nutrition Bar Confectioners factory.
“Law enforcement has obtained statements from individuals who work and/or worked for Nutrition Bar Confectioners and said that they were not asked for and did not provide any employment documentation,” the affidavit said.
The warrants said agents could seize computers and other business records. Following the raid, First Assistant U.S. Attorney John Sarcone said it is a warning to other employers and that they would be investigating the owners of the factory.
“There will be consequences. The bad old days of turning a blind eye are over,” he said during a press conference days after the raid.
According to federal court documents, no charges have been brought against the owners of Nutrition Bar Confectioners a year after the raid. Last week, Sarcone’s office declined to comment on the topic.