For Immediate Release

November 10, 2025

SYRACUSE, NY – A coalition of unions, elected officials, community groups and Upstate Medical University employees rallied on Monday, November 10 to call for the release of two Upstate workers—Alcibiades “Alex” Lazaro Ramirez Gonzalez and Yannier “Yan” Vazquez Hildago—who were apprehended by ICE agents while waiting to attend a scheduled immigration hearing in Mattydale.

The rally, held outdoors at the Syracuse Federal Building and emceed by SUNY Upstate Local President Ali Cottrell, drew nearly 400 supporters. United University Professions, CSEA, and the Greater Syracuse Labor Council organized the event.

Gonzalez and Vasquez had almost completed the process to legally emigrate to the U.S. when they were detained by ICE agents Oct. 29. They were sent to a detention center in Batavia—where they await court dates on Nov. 12 (Gonzalez) and Nov. 17 (Vasquez). It is unclear why the men were detained.

UUP President Frederick E. Kowal: “Only in Donald Trump’s America could two union members who fled oppression in Cuba to seek asylum in the United States be swept up by immigration enforcement agents as they waited to attend a scheduled immigration hearing. Our member, Alex Gonzalez, and his husband, CSEA member Yan Vasquez, are hard workers and good neighbors who share a dream to live legally in America. We stand with our union siblings and we will fight for their right to due process and to secure their releases.”

Kenny Greenleaf, CSEA Central Region President: “Two members of our community and union family were kidnapped by ICE and are being held in detention for doing exactly what our country asks people to do: follow the law, show up for their hearings, and work hard to build a better life. CSEA stands shoulder to shoulder with our labor partners, elected officials, and community allies to say loud and clear: bring them home and let’s keep fighting until justice wins.”

Mindy Heath, UUP Upstate Medical University Chapter President: “In these times of uncertainty, let us remember that our commitment to justice and humanity must prevail. Alex and Yan’s story is not just about their individual experiences; it reflects a broader struggle for dignity and respect for all immigrants. As a community, we must remain vigilant and united, ensuring that their journey toward citizenship continues without further obstacles.”

Melinda Person, NYSUT President: “This is not justice. This is not who we are supposed to be as a nation. No one should be punished for seeking freedom. No one should be detained for following the rules. No one should be torn from the people they love for daring to believe in the American promise of safety and belonging.”

Sharon Owens, Syracuse Mayor-Elect: “Alex and Yan kept their word. They went through a process set up by our country. Our federal government did not keep their word. When you are taken and haven’t committed a crime, and let’s be clear, they did not commit a crime, when you are taken and stolen off the face of our community, you have been kidnapped … and last I knew, kidnapping was a crime.”

Alissa Karl, UUP Vice President for Academics: “There are only two kinds of people in this country. Working people and the oligarchs and authoritarians who want to terrify, exploit, and immiserate us and who are waging a war on working people. When we are standing up for Alex and Yan today and the thousands of others in their situations, we are standing up for every single working person.”

State Sen. Rachel May: “I’m here to say shame … on the president … on ICE for attacking people when they show up for court hearings. Because they show up for work. Because they pay their taxes. Because they are trying to make a decent and lawful life in this country. I also want to say shame on every elected official that has sworn an oath to this constitution that isn’t here today speaking up against these flagrant violations of the constitution by the president and those working on his behalf. Bring Alex and Yan home and hold this president accountable to the law.”

Assemblymember Bill Magnarelli: “(Alex and Yan’s) detention is just another example of the cruel and inhuman treatment of our immigrant community under the Trump administration. Alex and Yan came to central New York to escape discrimination in Cuba. Their story is no different than the previous generations. They were following the rules, obeying the law, and contributing to their workplace and community until they were caught up in the Trump administration’s campaign to deport people at all costs with or without due process.”

Alex Marion, Syracuse City Auditor: “Alex and Yan are people who came to our country seeking to be strivers, seeking to be part of that more perfect union and I think there is no better example of what Syracuse is and our nation is than Alex and Yan. What has happened to them is inexcusable and unconscionable and that’s not who we are as a people and a country.”

Brittany Anderson, Pride at Work Executive Director: “We will not stand idly by while masked cowards abduct our loved ones, our neighbors, and our fellow union members. And when we see attacks on immigrants and LGBTQIA+ people, we must remember these are the strategies of billionaires and MAGA politicians they fund to distract form their anti-worker and anti-union agenda to further line their own pockets.”