TUPPER LAKE — The owner of the Tupper Lake Pine Mill, where U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained nine employees during a raid on Tuesday morning, says his company is cooperating with ICE in its investigation, but they believe all their employees were authorized to work in the U.S.

The details of what led to the raid, and what is now happening with the detained employees, are not clear at the moment, even to the mill owners.

The mill — formerly known as the Tupper Lake Hardwoods Inc. — is owned by the Quebec-based lumber harvesting and distribution company Matra Group. Matra Group Co-President and Director of Manufacturing Operations Nicholas Drouin addressed the raid on Friday.

“ICE did not provide us with a warrant in advance,” he said in a statement. “Nine employees were detained, all of whom were, to our knowledge, authorized to work in the United States, as we verify all employees through the I-9 process.”

ICE raids typically happen without warning, according to immigration lawyers. Drouin said they have tried to contact the detained employees but have not been able to reach them directly. So far, they have only been able to speak with immigration lawyers.

The mill has 21 employees, according to Matra Marketing Director Jordan McKay, so the raid took out around half of their workforce.

“While the loss of these team members will impact our operations, our primary focus remains on supporting the investigation and the well-being of our employees,” Drouin said.

McKay said they have not been able to learn more details of the investigations from ICE. As far as they know, all these employees were eligible workers, she said. They’re cooperating and providing information to ICE, she added.

“The investigation is ongoing, and we are fully cooperating with ICE by providing the relevant I-9 verification details,” Drouin said.

Every employee in the U.S. is required to have an I-9 form on file to prove they have the right to work, and every employer is required to personally verify that form.

ICE is one of the U.S. agencies which can perform audits of these forms. McKay said that the source alerting ICE to make a raid was not an I-9 audit as far as she knew.

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Audit increase expected

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President Donald Trump’s administration is ramping up Form I-9 audits as part of its mass deportation agenda. During an audit, employers give ICE supporting documents — passports, green cards, birth certificates — and ICE looks for fraudulent documents or minor clerical errors. Any discrepancy can result in noncompliance, which can mean detainment of employees and fines for employers.

Immigration experts identify Form 1-9 audits as one of the major tools in the Trump administration’s deportation effort, and businesses are being told to prepare for a likely increase in these audits.

Trump did this in his first term, which resulted in thousands of audits per year — between 6,000 and 15,000 annually, resulting in around 1,800 arrests, according to the National Immigration Law Center. For context, former President Barack Obama’s administration averaged a bit more than 3,000 audits per year.

At the same time, Trump is curtailing immigration programs, meaning the legal status and employment authorization of at least 2.7 million immigrants in America may change in the near future, according to Bloomberg News.

His administration is rolling back Temporary Protected Status for Haitians and Venezuelans in April. TPS shields people who cannot return to their home countries because of natural disasters or armed conflict from deportation.

It is ending the Humanitarian Parole Program for people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela, citing concerns of fraud. HPP allows temporary entrance into the U.S. for “urgent humanitarian reasons.”

It is also challenging Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals in court. DACA temporarily delays the deportation of people without documentation who came to the U.S. as children.

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Local, state police not involved

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Tupper Lake Village Police Chief Eric Proulx confirmed on Tuesday that at least one raid took place in Tupper Lake, but did not know if any other locations were searched throughout the day. He said that the village police department was not involved in the raids.

“I was aware of the situation, and we did not have anything to do with it,” he said. “We didn’t even leave the station.”

State Police spokeswoman Trooper Brandi Ashley said NYSP did not assist in the raid.

The Enterprise left messages with ICE but did not hear back by press time Friday evening.

The Tupper Lake Pine Mill was acquired by Matra in 2021 and saws pine before the logs are sent to the company’s other plants for further processing.

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Staff Writer Chris Gaige contributed to this report.