ICE agents were ‘really cruel’ during their raid
Officers pointed guns in search
SANDUSKY, Ohio — As buses carried 114 suspected illegal immigrants away to detention centers, 10 community members congregated at a home in Norwalk, Ohio, to process what had happened.
Hours before, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement had raided two Erie County locations of Corso’s Flower and Garden Center, one in Sandusky and the other in Castalia, leaving local children without siblings and parents.
The Tuesday raid was quiet, neighbors recalled to The Blade on Wednesday. But inside the perimeter, ICE agents rounded up workers suspected of being in the country illegally and loaded those without citizenship papers onto buses.
At the gathering in Norwalk, a Mexican-American citizen who was present during the raid described to Tanya Hernandez, 23, and her family the abuses allegedly perpetrated by agents and police officers while at Corso’s.
Outside the main office at Corso’s, ICE agents lured workers — many of whom spoke little English — with donuts, the witness told Miss Hernandez. When the workers refused to open the door, ICE agents forced it open and instructed the workers to lie on the ground as they collected the store’s computer and files.
The witness told Miss Hernandez that officers pointed guns at the workers — including Americans and children — and secured their hands with plastic cuffs. He added that when his father, who does not understand English, did not respond to orders from the agents, they hit the older man.
“They were really cruel, the way that they took them,” Miss Hernandez said. “They’re not treating them as if they were humans, they’re treating them as if they were animals.”
ICE did not immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday afternoon.
No criminal charges have been filed against Corso’s, but the employer is under investigation, authorities have said. Two locations were searched, and Khaalid Walls, an agency spokesman, said “a large volume of business documents” were seized.
The large-scale operation, assisted by aerial surveillance, is part of the Trump administration’s increasing focus on employers that hire people in the country illegally, one that took hold about a year after the president took office, and came months after a surge in deportation arrests began.
Corso’s describes itself as a family-owned company that serves seven states with a 160,000-square-foot greenhouse and additional 200,000 square feet to grow perennials. Its Sandusky facility is on the city’s busiest road amid hotels and fastfood joints that cater to tourists who drive by in the summer.
Tuesday’s raid is the largest Erie County has seen in her lifetime, Miss Hernandez added. Her father, a taxi driver with close ties to the local Mexican community, helped arrange childcare for young children whose parents were detained. Many of them are staying in the home of a local family for the time being.
According to Miss Hernandez, many employees at Corso’s work until 2 a.m. some nights, often starting at 6 a.m. to provide for their families, without overtime pay.
Employees at Corso’s declined to comment on Wednesday, saying they had been instructed not to talk to the media. The day after the raid, a human resources officer told reporters they were not welcome on the premises.
Some of the detained workers liked to bring their children to work instead of hiring babysitters and to keep them out of trouble, Miss Hernandez said — which meant that several minors were present during the raid.