‘Melt ice and freeze the devil’: Church concert fundraises for immigrants
On Wednesday night, the May Memorial Unitarian Universalist Society hosted “Songs of Hope and Resistance.” The event raised over $5,000. Charlie Hynes | Staff Photographer
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UPDATE: This story was updated at 5:17 p.m. EST on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026.
Heads swayed and fists thrusted in the air as around 100 Syracuse community members sang Jessie Elizabeth’s lyrics “melt the ice and freeze the devil” together, expressing solidarity with their neighbors affected by the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“I am here because my neighbor was picked up by ICE and taken to a detention center,” said Amy Zamkoff, a Syracuse resident who attended the event alone. “I feel very strongly about immigration and I feel embarrassed about what is happening right now.”
On Wednesday night, the May Memorial Unitarian Universalist Society hosted “Songs of Hope and Resistance,” a benefit concert donating to the Workers’ Center of Central New York and the Syracuse Immigrant and Refugee Defense Network. The event raised $5,240 for the organizations.
ICE presence in Syracuse has ramped up in the first year of Trump’s second term, with more than 150 people arrested in Onondaga County, Syracuse.com reported in December.
A total of five performers, performing solo and in groups, collectively put on a show of 12 songs. Most of the set was made up of folk songs, including ones like “Many Waves,” “Time For a Change” and “The Greater Love,” all written by the performers.
Some songs were specifically aimed at ICE while others were more general, but all the pieces performed carried undertones and messages of resistance, resiliency and community. Before each performance, the singers spoke to the audience about what the song meant to them and why they decided to include it in Wednesday’s show.
“I really wanted to do something, some kind of resistance concert to raise money and to offer these songs of resistance,” event organizer Colleen Kattau said.
As an organizer and performer of the event, Kattau has helped plan similar events for movements, such as anti-fracking and women’s rights. She said she enjoys using music as a form of protest.
On Wednesday, Kattau performed a song she wrote about abolishing ICE, based off a Spanish song about femicide in Mexico, which she translated and altered to reflect the issues surrounding ICE.
SIRDN, a sector of WCCNY, supports immigrants in the Syracuse area through advocacy and support resources, as well as promoting community solidarity.
“Songs of Hope and Resistance” consisted of a 12-song set. Many of the pieces reflected the concert’s mission, carrying undertones and messages of resistance, resiliency and community. Charlie Hynes | Staff Photographer
On stage, multiple protest signs were set up, written in bold letters. Some provided information on SIRDN and others had anti-ICE proclamations written on them. One sign read “ICE OUT, for Good!” while another said “Coming Soon! Regular ICE Report Info Sessions.”
One event organizer, Elizabeth Hilliard, has volunteered with SIRDN for over three years. She said she works to train people on how to report ICE sightings effectively, so they can be tracked and verified. When reports are vague, it’s especially important to try to verify them, she said.
“I’ve been trying to kind of get out into the community and spread the word so that people can give us reports,” Hilliard said. “So that we can actually verify it, investigate and help out if needed.”
Marc Alessi works in multiple subgroups of SIRDN, and said that their mission was personal to him.
“Making sure that every resident in the city of Syracuse can live a dignified life. I think that’s really important,” Alessi said. “People have built a large, significant portion of their lives and they’re suddenly being kidnapped and deported to places they haven’t been to, in some cases in decades.”
While the concert mostly included songs, one performer, Victor Maria Chaman, shared immigrant stories from his collection “¡PA´LANTE!” which includes 49 stories of mostly undocumented Latino immigrants. Chaman focused his speech on one story, about a man’s experience coming of age through music in Guatemala.
The show concluded with the five performers singing onstage together, performing “Freedom Is A Constant Struggle,” and encouraging others to join.
The use of music at a fundraising concert was an intentional choice, Kattau said. She wanted to unite people in this fight through song.
“People may not remember the specifics of the movement, but they always remember the songs,” Kattau said. “Music is just an amazing, galvanizing force, bringing people together, seeing collectively.”
