After Alleged Dodgy Hiring, Schmidt Family’s Nutrition Bar Empire Crumbles Under ICE’s Boot – Twitchy

Apparently, if you have had a business for decades, you should be able to get away with having illegals working for you or something. 

NEW: For nearly 50 years the Schmidt family had been manufacturing nutrition bars in Cato, N.Y. All that came crashing down this month, when ICE arrested 57 of their employees, hobbling the operation. My story on the aftermath, feat. Gov. Kathy Hochul: https://t.co/z9vWuWPoUt

— Grace Ashford (@gr_ashford) September 22, 2025

Sitting across a table from the Schmidt family in Cato, N.Y., Gov. Kathy Hochul found herself in an unfamiliar, and not altogether comfortable, position.

Nearly two weeks earlier, immigration officials had raided the family’s company, Nutrition Bar Confectioners, which manufactures snack bars, and arrested 57 people. The raid — one of the largest in the state since President Trump’s immigration crackdown began — had hobbled the company’s operations. 

News of the raid prompted an outcry from immigrant advocates and from Ms. Hochul, the state’s Democratic governor, who last week flew to Cato — a small town in rural Cayuga County, where voters chose Mr. Trump by a 39-point margin in last year’s election — to hear the Schmidt family’s stories, and offer what support she could.

It was not as much as she would have liked.

Ms. Hochul offered to direct the state’s Department of Labor to help find workers to get the company’s lines back up and running, but that would be of little help to the former workers or their families. And while New York had allotted $20 million this year on top of the $30 million already budgeted to help connect immigrants with legal services to fight deportation proceedings, that money wouldn’t protect people from being rounded up in the first place

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Hmmm. Seems like a pretty big mistake for the company owners to make. Obviously, papers can be forged, but wow, it seems like they were really gullible folks. Also, it’s kind of crazy New York is spending 50 million dollars just to help illegals fight deportation. Apparently, there are no citizens of New York who need any help. 

Agents told them they were seeking two murderers, the family said, but none of the 57 were charged with violent felonies. At least three were mothers with children under the age of 1, however.

— Grace Ashford (@gr_ashford) September 22, 2025

And? Having a small child is now an excuse to work illegally? Someone needs to write down all these new rules. 

Wait…your premise here is that a company hired dozens of illegals and we should feel bad when someone notices and does something about it?

— wait…what? (@waitdowha) September 22, 2025

That, and they are mad New York is part of the United States of America and subject to federal law. They want Kathy Hochul to decree illegals can work in New York.

Here’s a tip for you, Grace:

Those ’employees’ eligibility to work should have been established before they were hired.

ICRA, 1985.

I note that your article was silent on how much the illegal workers were being paid. They are often exploited to the detriment of US workers.

— Walter Wegow (@WWegow15747) September 23, 2025

They had 57 illegal immigrants working there?

That certainly doesn’t seem accidental. After about 10 it’s a pattern of disregard for the law.

— Shane’s Hat ✝️ (@oklumberman) September 22, 2025

They knew they were illegals. They were happy with the “documentation”. They need to be permanently shut down.

— Mrs Emo Support Python (@mrs_emo_python) September 23, 2025

If they didn’t, it’s a wonder they’ve run a successful business all these years. 

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