Demonstrators rally against ICE, demand release of detained Upstate workers
Nearly 200 people gathered at the Syracuse Federal Building on a snowy Monday evening to demand the release of two Upstate Medical University employees detained by ICE last month. Madison Cox | Staff Photographer
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Bundled in heavy layers, around 200 people gathered outside the Syracuse Federal Building for the “BRING THEM HOME!” rally Monday, demanding the release of two SUNY Upstate Medical University employees.
The employees, Alex Gonzalez and Yan Vazquez — a married couple — were detained by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on Oct. 29, while on their way to an immigration hearing in Mattydale, New York.
“They were deceived, and then they were kidnapped and put in detention, and with a scary and uncertain future,” said Rich Veenstra, former chapter president of Upstate’s United University Professionals.
During the rally, attendees held up signs with statements such as “Immigrant Rights are Workers’ Rights” and “No Human Being is Illegal.” People also carried glowing, rainbow batons, which they waved in the air despite heavy snow.
UUP, Civil Service Employees Association and the Greater Syracuse Labor Council organized the rally. Gonzalez is a member of UUP, and Vazquez belongs to CSEA, according to a Friday release.
The protest featured several speakers from each union, as well as representatives from community groups, including the New York Immigration Coalition, Upstate Medical University and the city of Syracuse.
New York state Sen. Rachel May, Syracuse Mayor-elect Sharon Owens and Syracuse City Auditor Alex Marion also attended. Owens called the detainment a “kidnapping” in her speech and urged attendees to take action.
“We’ll stand out in the middle of a snowstorm to stand up for what’s right and to stand up for our family,” Owens said.
Madison Cox | Staff Photographer
Community leaders spoke about the legal right to due process, immigration laws and funding in New York state and community strength. Speakers also led the crowd in a series of chants, including “bring them home” and “abolish ICE.”
CSEA President Kenny Greenleaf said Gonzalez and Vazquez were detained despite following the law and going to immigration court, making them victims of “kidnapping.”
“They’re sitting in a detention center separated from the people who love them because of a cruel system that punishes the very values we claim to stand for,” he said. “Shame, shame, shame.”
Following his speech, the crowd chanted “shame” in unison.
Both men had “almost completed the process to legally emigrate” before they were detained, according to the Friday release. The two employees were taken to a detention center in Batavia, New York, where they await court dates on Nov. 12 for Gonzalez and Nov. 17 for Vazquez, the release states.
The two fled Cuba in 2021 and 2022 to seek asylum in the U.S. and now own a home in North Syracuse. Both recently passed an immigration test that proved their lives would be in danger if they were to be deported to Cuba, the release states.
UUP Vice President for Academics Alissa Karl encouraged the crowd to “stand together” as a community. She said there are two types of people in the world — “working people” and “oligarchs and authoritarians.”
Karl said people in power want to exploit the working class, whether that be through Medicaid cuts, defunding SNAP benefits or ICE raids.
Kayla Kelechian, a NYIC representative, encouraged attendees to petition state legislators to pass the New York for All Act, a state law that would limit how state and local governments can collaborate with ICE, including prohibiting the diversion of resources to ICE and other federal immigration enforcement.
Family members of Gonzalez and Vazquez also attended the rally, along with a translator.
One family member said they asked Gonzalez and Vazquez for permission before agreeing to have the rally. They said both men were happy to have people supporting them.
Lori Nilsson and Kathy Zabinski, two attendees in CSEA, said they attended to show their support for Gonzalez and Vazquez. They said they were surprised when two state workers, who were doing everything in adherence to federal law, were still detained.
Pride at Work Executive Director Brittany Anderson also spoke, encouraging people to join together despite differences to see a democracy where everyone “can live and work with safety and stability.”
Madison Cox | Staff Photographer
Another attendee, Jon Pence, came to the rally in a frog costume as a symbol of “resistance against authoritarianism.” He said the Upstate workers had no criminal record and came to America for a better life.
“This is not what I was taught that America is,” Pence said. “I stood up in front of the classroom for 12 years saying, ‘Liberty and justice for all.’”
Pence said the more people who see these rallies and get upset by the current immigration policy, the more collective action can be taken against it.
Veenstra said the couple left Cuba to escape persecution and is now facing persecution again by the U.S. government.
Owens said while some people may believe they aren’t affected by ICE raids, it becomes everyone’s problem when the “definition of illegal” continues to change under the federal government.
“Don’t get comfortable because you’re not LGBTQ, or you’re not a person of color, or you’re not a woman,” Owens said. “If you ignore the plight of your neighbor, because that neighbor doesn’t look like you, speak like you, love like you, you better believe that that plight, that evil is going to someday knock on your door.”
