ICE: Local restauranteur speaks out
Reaction from Tonko, too.
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The “removal operation” conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the Congress Plaza shopping center at 68 Congress St. in Saratoga Springs on Tuesday July 15 caught the attention and ire not only of the Democratic Party in the city but of the owner of Mittler’s Market and Cafe on Phila Street in the city.
In a Facebook post Tuesday, Steve Mittler wrote: “Three of my customers, who became my friends, and who were our neighbors were taken today - because they looked Mexican. They were stopped. Presumably harassed, and taken. No warrants. Simply because they were not black or white.”
The Dispatch repeatedly attempted to reach the ICE public affairs office Wednesday but were unsuccessful. We wanted to confirm that ICE agents conducted a “removal operation” as they term it; how many people were taken and whether they had criminal complaints or warrants against them.
[Editor’s note: We have said in previous stories that the removal operation was from Congress Park; it was from Congress Plaza. Also, a rumor we heard of a removal operation in Glens Falls could not be confirmed and was denied by one restaurant owner who was said to have been involved.]
The Dispatch called the Montgomery County Correctional facility in Fultonville, New York, where other detainees have been brought. They asked that we call the sheriff. Montgomery County Sheriff Jeffery T. Smith said that ICE has delivered people to their jail for years, even before the current crackdown, as part of a contract the federal government has with the local jail. He was at a conference and so did not have exact figures for anyone brought to the jail on Tuesday.
Mittler’s Market and Cafe had become a hub for track workers and others, Steve Mittler said. He said that he did not witness the action, but heard similar stories from numerous people.
“Because I speak Spanish” many Latinos come to his shop, Mittler said. He and his staff got to know them. He said he believed three customers were taken based on photos he saw and their absence since the action which occurred at about 9:15 a.m. Tuesday.
“They were customers that came in everyday,” he said.
At the Saratoga Springs City Council meeting Tuesday evening, the city’s Democratic Party listed a number of policy changes they would like to see the city council make. They sought to have the police hold people for ICE only if they have been given a judicial warrant to do so. Also, they want to see more legal aid and education for the immigrant community, and the creation of a system by which immigrants can show that they have been a citizen in the city for at least two years, which can slow down the removal process. Read that story here.
For his part, Mittler said in an interview with the Dispatch that he would like to see the police called and brought to action when the people conducting the removal operation are using an unmarked vehicle, are not in uniform, or have their faces covered in masks, he said referring to a picture that he said was taken Tuesday morning in the plaza parking lot.
“Police should be involved. They should have every right to ask for ID,” Mittler said. “That’s when I think the police should be involved.”
However, at the Saratoga Springs City Council meeting Tuesday evening, Commissioner of Public Safety Tim Coll explained that ICE and other federal agencies do not need to tell the city that they are arriving or what they are doing since they are federal agencies.
However, ICE reaches out so their presence is not totally unexpected and so that there is not a confrontation of the sort that Mittler describes between the police and ICE agents.
“I've said this before where we're not we're having blue on blue situations,” he said, indicating two policing agencies confronting one another, adding, “So this morning [Tuesday], they contacted us, said they were going to do enforcement operations and investigative activity in our city. They did not tell us any more specific information. We did not assist them at all, and they left our city.”
Coll said that people looking to affect change should not be confronting the city council but the federal representatives.
U.S. Representative Paul Tonko, a Democrat in New York’s 20th Congressional District which includes Saratoga Springs, released a statement.
“Our community needs answers and assurances that due process is followed. Over these weeks, we have seen scenes in communities across the country where there was no due process of law whatsoever, causing mass fear and panic,” Tonko said in the statement.
“No matter the time, location, or accusation, everyone arrested in this ICE crackdown must be afforded due process of law. That fundamental ideal is what distinguishes America.”
For their part local Democrats addressed that in their statement Tuesday evening.
“Now we urge immediate bipartisan action by members of Congress to reform immigration laws based on the following principles,” James Thompson read from the policies.
Clear backlogs rapidly hire staff to reduce U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services processing times to one to two years.
Create a fair eight-year process, combining a five year Green Card path and a three year citizenship track for long term residents to become citizens.
Invest in skills training in critical industries to strengthen the economy and uplift working class Americans.
Build documented humane pathways for immigration while securing borders to prevent dangerous crossings.
Limit expedited removal to within 50 miles of the border and within six months of entry.
Repeal use of the Alien Enemies Act for immigration enforcement.
Require judicial warrants and hearings for all deportations; do not rely on ICE administrative warrants.
Allow state attorneys general to challenge unconstitutional enforcement.