Blake Gendebien, the Democrat running to unseat Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) in New York’s 21st Congressional District, said in a 2013 interview that Border Patrol agents profile people by skin color and once paid $10,000 to bail a detained farm worker out of custody.
“Border Patrol will profile by skin color crossing the road, and they’ll stop, and then they will interrogate and scream at the person,” Gendebien said in the 2013 interview.
Gendebien described how one of his workers, identified as Carlos, was taken away by Border Patrol near his parents’ driveway. He said he called a longtime Border Patrol agent, who told him newer agents transferring in from Arizona were “gung ho” and “all they want to do is pick people up.”
The detention happened just before Christmas, at a moment when Gendebien needed extra hands on the farm while his wife was in New York City. “So I bailed Carlos out for $10,000 to get some help over the weekend,” he said.
Gendebien has kept up the criticism into this year’s campaign. Earlier this month he said: “The Trump administration is out of line. Our immigration enforcement is being misused as a personal paramilitary force. That is not acceptable, and I am going to fight against that.”
Asked recently whether he would join New York Gov. Kathy Hochul in backing government healthcare access for illegal aliens, Gendebien did not commit either way. “With regards to healthcare for our immigrant community, I do not know enough about it,” he said.
A pattern of past remarks
This is not the first time Gendebien’s comments about labor and immigration have drawn scrutiny. In February 2025, Breitbart News reported on past statements in which he called the local workforce “awful,” saying “it’s hard to find one local person that doesn’t have domestic abuse problems, alcohol problems, wage garnishments,” and that local workers “show up late” and “drank too much.” He also said local children “don’t have a practical independence and ability to think” the way his Hispanic workers do, and said corrections officers “don’t have much self worth.”
In July 2025, Gendebien faced backlash over an AI-generated campaign ad mocking Stefanik. The Office of House Republican Leadership called it a “blatantly sexist, deep fake attack ad” that was “offensive, belittling, and confusing to voters especially seniors.” The Stefanik campaign has also criticized Gendebien after a campaign consultant interrupted a television interview in which he was being questioned about his past remarks on local workers.
