By Keller O’Dekirk
May 7, 2025

Dozens of activists responded to a call by the United Farm Workers (UFW) for an emergency demonstration on May 2 at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in Batavia, New York, near Buffalo.

That morning ICE agents had stopped a bus carrying farmworkers to Lynne-Ette Farms in Kent, New York, and arrested several workers — targeting workers who had been engaged in union-building efforts through the UFW. The bus was owned and operated by Lynne-Ette Farms, and it is more than likely that the company used ICE as a means to intimidate its workers from unionizing.

Demonstrators stood at the gates of the detention facility to demand the release of the workers, as well as for the dismantling of the entire unjust U.S. immigration system. They chanted slogans like “No farms, no food!” “ICE, KKK, IDF, they’re all the same!” and “Tear down the walls, free them all!”

The UFW is coordinating with the Volunteer Lawyers Project to provide support for the workers in their immigration cases and has stated that demonstrations will continue as needed.

Go to act.seiu.org/a/nyraid5225 to read the UFW press release and to sign up for future demonstrations with this campaign.