January 26, 2026

Roughly 150 people bundled in winter coats, hats and gloves gathered at Albany’s West Capitol Park Jan. 23 to protest the presence of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement — ICE —in Minneapolis and other cities and towns across America.

The temperature was in the teens with a frigid wind that made it feel like it was below zero.

Eli Boonin-Vail, a lecturer in the art and art history department at the University at Albany, was among a small group of UUP members and leaders who attended the rally. He said it was important for people from the labor movement to be at the rally and protest ICE. He said ICE agents’ arrests and brutality are on the minds of his students.

“I showed students a movie called “Mississippi Masala” this past week, it’s about an Indian family that escapes Uganda and comes to the United States. It portrays America as a place where immigrants are safe,” Boonin-Vail said. Of course, we couldn’t help but think about what is happening today and how the multicultural, democratic spirit is in danger.”

UUP President Fred Kowal and three union’s statewide officers—Vice President for Academics Alissa Karl, Secretary-Treasurer Jeri O’Bryan-Losee and Membership Development Officer Patrick Romain—joined a contingent from the Albany Chapter that included Bret Benjamin, UUP’s Chief Negotiator and a statewide Executive Board member.

For Kowal, being at the rally—which was held a day before ICE agents in Minneapolis gunned down Alex Pretti, a U.S. citizen and American Federation of Government Employees member for protesting ICE atrocities—was imperative. ICE’s unchecked violence in Minnesota is un-American and must end immediately.

“It’s really important for us to be here to testify to the fact that what the federal government is going, what ICE is doing is a violation of everything that we hold dear as a country, as a people and as a union,” Kowal said.

A number of speakers also spoke, including U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko, D-Amsterdam, state Sen. Patricia Fahy, D-Albany, Assemblymember Gabriella Romero, D-Albany, a leader from NYSUT and representatives from the Albany County Legislature, Indivisible NY, Albany’s Young Democrats committee and the National PTA.

An Albany teacher spoke through tears about one of his students, an 11-year-old boy, who was kidnapped by ICE Jan. 12 along with his mother and sister. The family is being held in an ICE detention center in Texas. Friends started a Go Fund Me campaign to provide them with money for legal fees, food and hygiene items while they are in detention.

At the conclusion of the rally, organizers asked the crowd to commit to action items: spread the story of the children kidnapped with their mother by ICE; donate to nonprofits who support immigrants and refugees and talk to local schools how administrators will deal with ICE encounters by their families.

They also asked the crowd to call their local elected representatives and support legislation like Fahy’s bill, Mandating End of Lawless Tactics (MELT) which would ban the use of face coverings by ICE agents; and the New York for All Act, which would prohibit local law enforcement from collaborating with ICE.