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The case of Alcibiades Lázaro Ramírez González and Yannier Vázquez Hidalgo, the Cuban couple detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in New York, has sparked a wave of solidarity among coworkers, unions, and residents of Syracuse who are calling for their immediate release and an end to their deportation to Cuba.
Both men, employees of the Environmental Services team at SUNY Upstate Medical University, were arrested on October 29 during a routine appointment with immigration authorities, just two months after getting married in the United States. Since then, they have remained confined in a detention center in Batavia, awaiting scheduled court hearings on November 12 and 17.
According to a report by the local CNY Central, colleagues and union representatives have come together to demand their release and denounce the treatment they have received from immigration authorities.
Ashley Clark, a friend and colleague of the couple, shared with the outlet that they "put everything aside to help others" and that their arrest has caused great distress among those who know them.
Clark started a support campaign that includes collecting letters of recommendation, a public demonstration, and selling t-shirts with a heart on the chest and the phrase “survival isn't illegal” on the back.
“They are not criminals; they came here to survive,” said Clark, who described them as a “beacon of light” at work and recalled that both were valued for their ethics and solidarity.
The couple is represented by the United University Professions (UUP) and the Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA), which have supported the community protests. This week, several of their colleagues, along with local activists, gathered in front of the federal building in Syracuse to demand their return and to call for more humane treatment of detained immigrants.
The relatives of Alcibiades and Yannier insist that both men fled Cuba to escape persecution and homophobia, and that their return to the Island would endanger their lives. "There is no protection or justice for them there," a close relative had warned.
Supportive messages continue to grow both within and outside the state of New York. For many, the story of this Cuban couple symbolizes the contradiction between the values of freedom that the United States claims to defend and the immigration policies that today threaten those who seek precisely that freedom.
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