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For Syracuse resident Elaina Leonardo, taking time out of her busy day to join hundreds of protesters in Columbus Circle and rally against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was a complicated, yet simple choice.

“It’s cold. I work two jobs. I have four kids. I would much rather be home, but I can’t,” Leonardo said. “I can’t just stay quiet.”

The rally, organized by over 10 groups, including Syracuse Democratic Socialists of America, follows a string of national protests ignited by the death of Minneapolis woman Renee Good, who was shot by an ICE agent Wednesday.

Leonardo said much of her reasoning for attending surrounds her faith, as well as a demonstration to her children that participating in protests and speaking out is “imperative.”

Protesters heard numerous speeches condemning U.S. immigration practices and detailing ways to stand up against ICE’s presence. The crowd then marched to Clinton Square, growing to an estimated 1,600 participants, organizer and DSA council leader Tammy Honeywell said.

Tom Keck, chair of constitutional law and politics at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, left listeners with a final message against ICE interference before marching to the vigil.

“Some things are complicated and some things are simple,” Keck said. “If armed agents of the state are shooting people dead in the streets of a U.S. city, that is obviously illegal.”

After reuniting in Clinton Square, a vigil memorializing Good began, where speakers read a poem titled “On Learning to Dissect Fetal Pigs” that Good wrote before her death.

Participants also honored the 32 people who died in ICE custody in 2025. As protesters read each person’s name, the crowd chanted “presente” — a Spanish word used to honor the spiritual presence of those who died.

Eric Kingson, a professor emeritus at SU’s School of Social Work, emphasized the importance of fighting for justice in the U.S. for the sake of the generations to come.

Kingson recalled discussing his Jewish heritage with his family when he was young, thinking mass oppression in the U.S. “can’t happen.” Now, decades later, he said his “worst fear” is becoming more and more real closer to home.

“We take pride in this country. We did, we should, and I think we still do take pride in coming together from many areas,” Kingson said. “At the same time, it creates, and always created, tensions.”

“Nobody is coming to save us, but we have power, we have numbers.” Syracuse residents gathered downtown Monday night to condemn Immigration and Customs Enforcement action nationwide. Cassie Roshu | Senior Staff Photographer

Numerous recently elected Syracuse city officials also attended, including First District Councilor Marino Nave, Onondaga County Legislature Chair Nicole Watts and Mayor Sharon Owens.

At the end of the speeches, protesters called out Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon, chanting “Hey Ryan, no compliance” while facing his office building on Montgomery Street. In 2025, McMahon said he would collaborate with ICE to handle immigrants without legal status on probation.

Since the beginning of President Donald Trump’s second term, 162 ICE arrests have been made in Onondaga County — nearly triple the number of arrests in 2024. Recently, federal agents detained three SUNY Upstate Medical University workers and in September also arrested two longtime Syracuse Chinese Restaurant owners.

Janet McCann, an elementary school substitute teacher at Dr. Weeks Elementary School — a district with many refugee and immigrant students — said the increased ICE presence in the area worries her colleagues.

“All of those kids and their families are the hardest-working, honorable people,” McCann said. “The reason they’re escaping (is) poverty and violence and just horrific conditions to come to this country.”

McCann said the principal at Weeks worries she won’t know how to protect students in the case federal agents enter the school.

A couple of minutes into the rally, a counter protester interrupted the event.

Wearing a mask resembling Trump, they blasted circus music from their truck, holding a sign that read “here come the clowns” and “illegal aliens = fraud.” The crowd largely ignored the heckler, who drove away after a couple of minutes.

Syracuse resident Paul Waelder said he has attended protests similar to Monday’s since he was a child and has witnessed the “slow creep and demise of the U.S. system.” Also driven by his outrage for the death of Good, he said he felt a need to attend the rally.

With him, Waelder carried an American flag he said was given to him at the rally. For him, carrying the flag allows him to “reclaim its meaning.”

“I won’t let them have it. I won’t let them have the word liberal. I won’t let them have socialism,” Waelder said. “I’ll proudly wear it and not fall into them trying to shame us.”

Waelder added that he was impressed and “heartened” by the high numbers of attendees, recollecting past numbers of participants at other protests in Syracuse and Albany.

“So many people feel similarly, but isolated and so there’s enough strength and support in the numbers,” Waelder said. “That’s important.”

After leading the crowd in a chant surrounding the illegality of ICE’s actions, Keck echoed Waelder’s sentiment, emphasizing a continued country-wide need for recognizing protests and activism.

“Nobody is coming to save us,” Keck said. “But we have power, we have numbers.”

Published on January 13, 2026 at 12:35 am