Ë®¹ûÅÉAV

Lenny Schmidt, one of the owners of Nutrition Bar Confectioners in Ira, told Ë®¹ûÅÉAV on Friday that about 10 of the 69 detained employees have been released and some have already returned to work.

The employees were detained by U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement and Border Patrol during a raid that began with masked agents using crowbars to break open the factory's doors at about 9 that morning, Schmidt said. Dune buggies and dogs were used as well, witnesses told Ë®¹ûÅÉAV, and one agent repeatedly shouted "we have a f--king warrant!" at the startled employees.

All 230 of the business's employees were then interviewed and required to show agents proof of citizenship — or else be detained. 

Schmidt said one employee was detained even though he told agents his documentation was in his car. They wouldn't let him retrieve it.

"They treated everybody like they were complete criminals," Schmidt said. "It was insane, like a movie. We make granola nutrition bars."

Ana Mendez Vasquez, Western New York regional coordinator for the Rural & Migrant Ministry, also told Ë®¹ûÅÉAV some employees tried to show agents documentation but "they were not having it."

Mendez Vasquez, who has friends and family who work at the factory, arrived there at about 10 a.m. after receiving news of the raid. Many more employees are active in the ministry, she said.

"They definitely did not have a criminal history," she said. "A lot of them were on the pathway to citizenship." 

The Department of Homeland Security has not responded to Ë®¹ûÅÉAV's requests for comment on the raid, including its purpose. But Cayuga County Sheriff Brian Schenck, who was present for the raid with deputies and the office's mobile command unit to provide assistance, said in a statement Friday that the agents were executing a search warrant as part of an investigation into "felony level crimes."

Schmidt said he is unaware of any investigation. Instead, he believes the reason for the raid was the factory's employment of Hispanic workers. But he said all of them are in the U.S., or able to work here, legally. Nutrition Bar Confectioners collects their documentation, like driver's licenses and Social Security cards, for payroll. He added that agents took copies of the business's payroll hard drives. 

"We do everything the state labor department requires," he said. "If someone came in with falsified stuff, we don't know. That's always a possibility. But we're pretty sure everyone here has legal status."

On Friday, Schmidt said, production had slowed down at the factory. With almost 30% of its workforce gone and the rest still shaken by the raid, it was producing about 100,000 bars a shift compared to the normal 200,000. But as the business hires more people, and hopefully more employees are released, he expects its five production lines will be back to full strength by the end of next week.

Schmidt is part of the third generation of ownership of the factory with his brothers, Mark Jr. and Jeff. They own it with their father, Mark, who opened Nutrition Bar Confectioners in 1978 with his father, Leonard. It annually produces about 250 million energy, snack, protein and meal replacement bars for several large, confidential brands, and has been growing in recent years .

"We're a pretty strong company," Schmidt said. "I don't think this is going to destroy us by any means."