Syracuse vigil calls for release of man detained by ICE

A song of resistance and unity rose from the front steps of the University United Methodist Church Saturday evening. 

It wasn’t particularly loud. There was no shouting. As the crowd harmonized their call and response, it sounded like a church hymn.

“This is for our neighbors who are locked inside,” they sang. “Together we can abolish ICE.” 

About 70 community members, advocates and organizers from the Workers’ Center of CNY, the Syracuse Immigrant and Refugee Defense Network, the New York Immigration Coalition, and the Food Chain Workers’ Alliance gathered for a vigil to free a Syracuse worker they say was illegally detained by ICE. The man, Carlos Arreaga, is now being held in the federal detention facility in Batavia, a 1:40 drive west of Syracuse. 

With a progress-pride flag emblazoned with the words “All are Welcome!” hung on the church behind them, local organizers and Arreaga’s friends and family made impassioned pleas for his release. As the football game ended up the SU hill from church, streams of cars drove by, with many drivers honking and shouting in support. 

On the morning of June 26, Immigration and Customs Enforcement took Arreaga into custody on his way to work “without a warrant or any particular reason,” according to his GoFundMe page. The page was set up by his wife, Amelia, to help cover Carlos’s legal fees and the family’s living expenses now that their sole breadwinner is detained in a facility that has been criticised for overcrowding and poor conditions.  

Arreaga has filed for asylum in the U.S. and has been a Syracuse resident and active member of the community for the past eight years, according to the press release for Saturday’s vigil. Organizers said that he was detained illegally and continues to be denied bond, despite an order from a federal judge that he be given a bond hearing. 

“We will gather to show community support for Carlos, call for his freedom, and expose the worsening situation at the … federal detention center and the ongoing illegal, warrantless detentions and racial profiling that have contributed to the abductions of over 500 people from Onondaga County since January 2025,” organizers wrote in the press release.

Jim McKeever volunteers with the Syracuse Immigrant and Refugee Defense Network, whose work includes ICE watch and rapid response teams, helping families locate their missing loved ones, and a support hotline. He noted that the organization has been much busier within the last year and a half due to increased ICE activity in the area.

“These are guys trying to feed their families,” McKeever said. “They have working permits. They have open asylum cases. But none of that matters. They’re just profiling people in their cars.”

Several community members who knew Arreaga spoke up on his behalf and letters of support and comments about good character were read aloud. “Carlos was an incredible presence in our neighborhood. A good, solid man who did lots of things for everybody,” one of Arreaga’s neighbors said.

Community member Fiorella Buitron said that attending these events is important because “we have to be united in the struggle and be united in the pain that we feel and pull each other together in solidarity.” 

The crowd was left with a call to action to continue coming together as a community, speaking out and advocating for Arreaga’s release. The crowd erupted into applause at Kayla Kelechian’s declaration that they fight to “make sure people have access, make sure people have representation.” 

Kelechian, the Upstate New York director of organizing and strategy for the New York Immigration Coalition, spoke about the need for immigration attorneys and immigration services and called on community members and activists to continue contacting their elected officials. 

“This is a vigil because I am in grief,” Kelechian said. “Families are in grief. But we fight back.” 

After the speakers were finished, everyone in attendance stood together on the steps with their signs chanting “free Carlos.” The chants mixed with the sound of cars continuing to honk in support. 

“No one is getting left behind this time,” they sang to close out the event. “We’ll get there together or never get there at all.”