LAKE PLACID, N.Y. (WCAX) – At least two Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in one week have left Lake Placid businesses scrambling for workers at the start of the busy summer tourism season and sent the immigrant community into hiding.<\/p>\n
\u201cFriendly, happy, outgoing, very, very hardworking,\u201d said Brennan Stanton, describing his co-worker from Venezuela, who was among 14 detained by ICE on May 28. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe was detained on private property, which is my family\u2019s property,\u201d said Art Lussi, who operates the Grandview Hotel in Lake Placid.<\/p>\n
Lussi says the employee had worked there for the last few years, quickly earning the respect and admiration of those in the area. \u201cIt\u2019s pretty frustrating to have a person that is respected not only by his fellow employees but people within the community,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Just days after the first raid, seven more people who were on their way to work at a local restaurant were detained by ICE at a trailhead outside Lake Placid. Some of the detainees were also roofers.<\/p>\n
Keela Grimmette with the group North Country Immigrant Allies, says all 21 who were detained had work authorization but weren\u2019t allowed to show it to ICE. \u201cEven though we are told to have folks travel with their documents on their body, ICE is not even allowing people to even show those documents,\u201d Grimmette said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s certain rights that everybody is entitled to and it just feels like maybe those weren\u2019t followed through on for him,\u201d Stanton said.<\/p>\n
The two raids have some in the community on edge. \u201cSometimes we don\u2019t want to bring our children to school, sometimes we don\u2019t want to bring our kids to daycare. It\u2019s just affecting all of our lives really,\u201d said Eliana Godoy of Wilmington.<\/p>\n
In a statement, ICE confirmed the first raid, saying all 14 people who were detained were in the country illegally and three had criminal histories. \u201cPresident Trump and Secretary Mullin will not allow criminal aliens to walk freely on U.S. streets. ICE will continue to prioritize public safety by arresting and removing alien offenders and those ordered removed by an immigration judge,\u201d officials said.<\/p>\n
While it\u2019s unclear if Lussi\u2019s employee had a criminal history, he says he\u2019s worried about the impact ICE raids will have on a tourist heavy area that needs workers. \u201cWe aren\u2019t going to be able to staff our businesses and that is why we have resorted to inviting foreign workers come and be part of our community and part of our region,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Local law enforcement was not aware of the two raids. All of those arrested have been taken to a detention facility in Batavia.<\/p>\n
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