For Immediate Release

October 13, 2026

United University Professions, the nation’s largest higher education union, today called for the immediate release of one of its members, a SUNY Brockport employee who was taken into custody by ICE agents this morning in front of his Batavia home.

German Machado, a SUNY Brockport IT technician, was picked up by ICE agents as he was preparing to leave for work, according to his wife, Maria Velázquez. A journalist, Velázquez said the couple fled the Maduro regime in Venezuela in 2016 and sought asylum in America.

She said that Machado has a valid Employment Authorization Document to work at SUNY Brockport; the EAD expires in 2029. Issued by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, an EAD proves that a noncitizen is legally authorized to work in the U.S. for a specific period of time.

Machado is being held in the Buffalo Federal Detention Facility in Batavia.

“German Machado is a good man and a hard worker who is in this country legally and who is legally authorized to work in this country,” said UUP President Fred Kowal. “As a union, we will do all that we can to push for German’s release, including ensuring that his federal rights are not violated in any way by the Trump administration.”

“We are not criminals, we are good citizens trying to live a life in peace. We just want to live in safety,” said Velázquez. “We own a home here. We are all professionals with university degrees. We work here and we pay taxes. (ICE) had no reason to do this to (Machado).”

Velázquez said she believes that ICE agents were waiting for her husband to leave their house this morning to apprehend him. His car is still in the garage but his wallet and keys are gone.

She said the couple came to the U.S. because the Maduro regime threatened and harassed Velázquez for being a journalist. They applied for asylum in 2016 and they’ve been waiting for the case to be adjudicated since then.

“We have complied with the laws, we’ve been doing everything we can,” said Velázquez.

Alissa Karl, UUP’s statewide vice president for academics and a SUNY Brockport faculty member, said UUP members are set to hold a visibility event to support Machado on Thursday, Oct. 15. UUP members will hand out flyers and stickers at the event.

The event is scheduled to run from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the SUNY Brockport student union.

“We will stand with German until he is home with his family and back at work—where he belongs,” said Karl.

“German is a colleague and a fellow union member who is held in high regard on our campus,” said Susan Orr, UUP Brockport Chapter president. “We are standing with him to ensure he receives his full due process rights.”