February 19, 2026
Alex and Yan are free, with conditions.
UUP member Alcibiades “Alex” Lazaro Ramirez González and his husband, CSEA member Yannier “Yan” Vázquez Hildago, were arrested in Syracuse by ICE agents in October 2025 when they arrived at an immigration hearing. They’ve been held at a federal detention center in Batavia ever since.
The men, a married couple from Cuba, were released on bond while their deportation appeals are considered — but different judges presided over each bond hearing and arrived at different conditions. Vázquez was released Feb. 17; González was released Feb. 18.
Bond for Vázquez was set at $5,000 while the judge in González’s case set his bond at $15,000. González was ordered to wear a tracking device on his ankle; Vázquez was not. Neither González nor Vázquez have any criminal history.
“At least now, Alex and Yan can fight their deportation order from their home instead of from inside a detention facility, a place they had no reason at all to be in, said UUP President Fred Kowal. “While Alex’s release is welcome news, it does nothing to protect him from being deported. As a union, UUP will continue to support him. He is UUP. He is one of us.”
“I am ecstatic they are being released,” said Mindy Heath, president of the UUP chapter at Upstate Medical Center, where both men work. “But I am disappointed they were held for so long for no apparent reason and different judges handled their bond applications differently.”
A different set of judges in January ordered the men to be deported to Ecuador, despite the fact neither González nor Vázquez have connections to the country. The men fled Cuba in 2021 to avoid discrimination and harassment because of their sexual orientation.
Both men testified the conditions in Ecuador are similar, but judges in each man’s case said they failed to prove they would be subject to harassment and extortion in the South American country. The United States has an agreement with Ecuador to take immigrants from other countries.
The Syracuse, UUP and CSEA families responded generously to a GoFundMe fundraising campaign set up to help González and Vázquez pay legal fees. They will need more support going forward because the bond amounts wiped out almost all the donations taken in last week.
Click HERE.