More than 300 residents, local officials and Cornellians converged on the Ithaca Commons on Wednesday evening, protesting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers’ arrest of José L. Guzman, who lives in Ithaca and who the agency said is a Mexican national.
Guzman, 32, was picked up by ICE officers on Tuesday afternoon and is currently being held at a detention center in Batavia. Three ICE officers pulled up next to him as he was walking down Cascadilla Street on Tuesday afternoon and asked him for his name before arresting him, according to a Cornell student who spoke to The Sun on condition of anonymity.
Read our full coverage of the arrest, local officials’ resistance and Wednesday’s protest: Ithaca Officials Air Frustrations With ICE as Hundreds Protest Agency’s Arrest.
Katie Sims / Sun Staff Photographer
A day after hundreds attended a rally (pictured) protesting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s arrest of José L. Guzman, an Ithaca attorney who represented the 32-year-old in 2013 has not been able to reach him.
Cameron Pollack / Sun Photography Editor
Fabina Colon, director of Ithaca’s Multicultural Resource Center, organized the rally after ICE arrested José Guzman on Tuesday.
Cameron Pollack / Sun Photography Editor
At least a dozen Cornell students and several professors protested the arrest of Guzman, which a witness told The Sun took place on Cascadilla Street on May 2, 2017.
Cameron Pollack / Sun Photography Editor
“We can only conclude that ICE is targeting sanctuary cities,” Ithaca Mayor Svante Myrick ’09 said.
Michael Suguitan / Sun Staff Photographer
Guzman is currently being held at the Buffalo Federal Detention Facility in Batavia. A lawyer who represented Guzman in 2013 said he has not been able to reach him.
Michael Suguitan / Sun Staff Photographer
Prof. Russell Rickford, history, likened the ICE officers to “slave catchers” and said Guzman was “a good brother with a beautiful smile.”
Michael Suguitan / Sun Staff Photographer
In addition to the Cornellians, local representatives and adults, many children attended Wednesday’s rally, climbing trees and sitting on shoulders.
Cameron Pollack / Sun Photography Editor
Experts said that under new directives from President Donald Trump, Guzman may have been targeted because he was accused of stabbing a man in 2013, despite the fact that he was never indicted.
Michael Suguitan / Sun Staff Photographer
Myrick said he was particularly concerned that ICE reportedly used an unmarked vehicle and arrested Guzman without informing local law enforcement agencies of the operation in advance.
Katie Sims / Sun Staff Photographer
Svante Myrick ’09 addresses protesters who were responding to ICE’s May 2017 arrest of a Mexican man who had been living in Ithaca.