November 12, 2025
This is what solidarity looks like: more than 300 people — union members and Syracuse residents — gathered in the falling snow Nov. 10 shouting, “Bring them home!” into the frigid night.
Multiple labor organizations, including UUP, CSEA Local 615, NYSUT and the Greater Syracuse Labor Council have come together with one voice to support UUP member Alex Ramírez González and CSEA member Yan Vázquez in the days since the men were detained Oct. 29 by agents from U.S. Customs and Border Enforcement.
Protesters and speakers came together on an oval patch of grass in front of the James M. Hanley Federal Building in downtown Syracuse on a frigid evening to call for their release and castigate the Republican federal administration for its sweeping, cruel crackdown on immigrants.
Bundled up against the cold, they waved foam glow sticks, sang “Solidarity Forever,” and held signs reading “Immigrant Rights are Workers’ Rights,” “We Stand with Alex and Yan,” and “No One Should Live in Fear.” It was a show of support for González and Vázquez as well as all the men, women and children who have been arrested, dragged, pepper-sprayed and beaten as part of a nationwide attack on immigrants.
Mindy Heath, president of UUP’s Upstate Medical University Chapter, pledged UUP’s ongoing support to González and Vázquez and said they are among the 70% of immigrants detained by ICE who have no criminal record. The men own a house in North Syracuse, pay taxes and give back to their communities
“We will not stand by while they are robbed of their dreams,” Heath said.
Alissa Karl, UUP’s Vice-President for Academics, praised the inclusive message of the rally but asked the crowd to remember, “there are two types of people: working people and oligarchs and authoritarians who are waging war against us.”
“By standing up tonight, you are standing up for every working person,” Karl said. “They want to terrify us. They want us to live in fear and desperation so they can exploit us. You are standing in your power here tonight”
González and Vázquez, a married couple who work at Upstate Medical University, led Cuba in 2021 and 2022, respectively, to seek asylum in the U.S. They recently passed an immigration test that proved their lives would be in danger if they are deported to Cuba; they were taken by ICE agents while waiting for an immigration hearing in Mattydale, a Syracuse suburb.
The men are being held in a detention center in Batavia, Genesee County. González’s hearing is set for Nov. 12; Vázquez’s hearing is set for Nov. 17.
Miriam Andres, a cousin of González, said she and other family members visited the men in Batavia on Nov. 8. The men have been separated but see each other during the day, she said. She asked her cousin and his husband for permission for the unions and the community to advocate for them, which they gave.
“They are super happy to see the support,” Andres, who was teary-eyed, said.
Syracuse Mayor-elect Sharon Owens, NYSUT President Melinda Person, State Sen. Rachel May also spoke at the rally as well as CSEA Central Region President Kenny Greenleaf, CSEA Local 615 President Ali Cottrell, Syracuse City Auditor Alex Marion Pride at Work Executive Director Brittany Anderson, Kayla Kelechian of the New York Immigration Coalition and Jessica Maxwell, Executive Director of the Workers’ Center of Central New York.
“Alex and Yan kept their word, they went through a process set up by our country,” Owens said “Our federal government did not keep their word, but they don’t know us. We’ll stand out in the middle of a snowstorm to stand up for what’s right and stand up for our family.”