Mayor-elect Owens says CNY workers’ detention was a ‘kidnapping’ 

A song blared from loudspeakers and blended with the voices of more than a hundred protesters gathered outside the James M. Hanley Federal Building in Syracuse on Monday evening.

“Solidarity forever, solidarity forever, solidarity forever, for the union makes us strong,” the crowd sang as people lifted signs and glowsticks, the first snow of the season falling around them.

The crowd chanted, “Bring them home!” for Alcibiades “Alex” Lázaro and Yannier “Yan” Vázquez, two SUNY Upstate Medical employees detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers on Oct. 29. 

Alex and Yan, a recently married Cuban couple, came to the U.S. seeking asylum to escape persecution for their sexual orientation. When they went for a check-in with officers at ICE’s local office in the Mattydale, agents transported them to a detention center in Batavia, about two-hours west of Syracuse.

The check-in should have been their final step in their quest to receive political asylum after passing previous hearings and an immigration test to prove a credible threat to their lives in Cuba. 

Newly elected Mayor Sharon Owens, state Sen. Rachel May, friends of the couple, and leaders of unions representing them spoke out about the arrest.

“When you are taken and you haven’t committed a crime, and let’s be clear, they did not commit a crime,” Owens said to the crowd. “You are basically stolen off the face of our community. You have been kidnapped. And last time I knew, kidnapping was a crime.”

Photo by Ella Chan

Sharon Owens, the mayor-elect of Syracuse, speaks during the rally Monday.

In her speech, May shamed ICE agents for detaining the couple during a public hearing.

“Shame on ICE for attacking people when they show up for court hearings, because they show up for work,” she said. “Bring Alex and Yan home and hold this president accountable before the law.” 

Melinda Person, president of New York State United Teachers, recognized the couple’s dedication and hard work. Yan worked as a janitor and Alex was a department supervisor at Upstate Medical University. 

Person said Syracuse community leaders will not stop their efforts until Alex and Yan are safely home.

“They’re the kind of people who make a hospital run. They show up early, they stay late, they take pride in the dignity of a day’s work,” she said. “Their colleagues have said it best. They are the backbone of the hospital.”

In the crowd, Laura Kreidler attended the protest as a concerned resident and because her husband was a former member of Upstate United University Professions, the labor union that represents SUNY Upstate Medical University faculty and staff. Hearing about the arrests outraged her, she said. 

“I want the federal government to completely reverse direction,” Kreidler said. “I don’t like anything Trump does, but this is hurting so many people.”

On Saturday, ICE agents put them in different cells. Alex doesn’t look okay, their relatives told The NewsHouse.

“I’ve never seen him like that — he is devastated,” said Alex’s nephew, Bryan Sayra Ramírez. “After this, I hope we have him back home soon.”

Ken Greenleaf, central region president of the Civil Service Employees Association of New York, said Alex and Yan were CSEA and UUP members and active in the community. They were kidnapped, not detained, he said. 

“Now, they’re sitting in a detention center separated from the people who love them because of a cruel system that punishes the very values we claim to stand for,” Greenleaf said. 

Photo by Cassie Roshu

Kayla Kelechian addresses the crowd at a community rally demanding ICE to release Alex Gonzalez and Yan Vasquez at the Syracuse Federal Building on Nov. 10.

Jessica Maxwell, executive director of the Workers Center of Central New York, and Kayla Kelechian of New York Immigration Coalition, both nonprofit organizations, called on legislators to pass the New York For All Act. Maxwell has responded to immigration enforcement actions across Central New York, including a Sept. 4 raid at a Cato protein bar plant where ICE detained 69 workers. 

“Every single time we go out together, it is to respond to another crisis,” Maxwell said. “It’s to get in the car to drive to Cato. It’s to come down for a rally. It’s to meet with a mom who does not even have her son with her anymore because he was taken away last weekend.”

Owens said she hopes people stand up for people like Alex and Yan, who get targeted based on the whims of the powerful.

“If you don’t stand up for them, you’ll kneel for the other. Don’t get comfortable because you’re not LGBTQ or you’re not a person of color,” she said. “The definition of illegal is whatever they choose to make it.”