Brendan McGovern, UUP (United University Professions), Binghamton Chapter President
On February 17 and 18, UUP member Alcibiades “Alex” Lazaro Ramirez González and his husband, CSEA member Yannier “Yan” Vázquez Hidalgo, walked out of federal detention and back into the arms of their union family.
Their ordeal began last October when they arrived at a scheduled immigration hearing in Syracuse and were arrested by ICE. Instead of due process, they were transported to a federal detention facility in Batavia and held for months. Alex and Yan, a married couple from Cuba who fled discrimination and harassment because of their sexual orientation, had no criminal history. Yet they were detained while pursuing asylum through legal channels.
Their release on bond does not end their legal fight, but it marks a critical victory.
UUP President Fred Kowal put it plainly:
“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. 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.”
The bond hearings revealed troubling inconsistencies. Yan’s bond was set at $5,000. Alex’s was set at $15,000, and he was ordered to wear an ankle monitor. Two judges, two different outcomes, and no criminal record for either man. It underscored what many in our movement have said from the beginning: this was never about public safety. It was about an aggressive federal immigration posture that has increasingly targeted immigrant communities and created fear across campuses and workplaces.
But the story did not end there.
The Central New York labor community mobilized. UUP and CSEA members rallied. Elected officials spoke out. Community members packed hearings. A GoFundMe campaign was launched to support legal fees and bond payments. Union leaders refused to let their names disappear into a detention log.
Mindy Heath, President of the UUP chapter at Upstate Medical Center where both men work, said upon their release, “I am ecstatic they are being released. But I am disappointed they were held for so long for no apparent reason and that different judges handled their bond applications differently.” She later reflected, “I feel truly lucky to be a part of something so big and so meaningful.”
February 23, 2026, was back to work day for Alex and Yan at Upstate Medical Center. Their commute no longer ends at a detention gate. It ends at a workplace where their colleagues stood up for them.
Alex himself said upon his release, “Don’t stop fighting for us.” That message resonates far beyond one case.
Across the country, higher education workers and immigrant employees are facing escalating pressure. Contracts are challenged. Due process is tested. Federal agencies have adopted enforcement tactics that send shockwaves through communities. Yet what this case demonstrates is that unions still have power. When UUP and CSEA mobilized, when the broader AFL-CIO family joined the effort, when community voices refused to look away, the outcome changed.
Last year alone, hundreds of thousands of workers joined unions nationwide. In the face of federal hostility, workers are choosing solidarity. Alex and Yan’s release is a testament to that truth.
Their struggle is not over. Their appeals continue. Many others remain detained. But this moment proves something essential: when labor moves together, we can change outcomes.
The government may have believed they could detain two union members without consequence. They were wrong.
We fight for them because they are us. And we will not stop. In solidarity.
