Dozens of State University of New York at Brockport students and faculty gathered outside the student union Thursday for a rally in support of a university employee who was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
German Machado Guillen, an IT technician at SUNY Brockport, was detained Tuesday morning in front of his home as he was preparing to leave for work, his wife, Maria Velázquez, said in a news release from United University Professions.
UUP, the union representing faculty and professional staff across the SUNY system, organized the rally to call for Machado Guillen's release and support for his family.
UUP holds rally for SUNY Brockport employee detained by ICE
Alissa Karl, UUP's vice president for academics and a SUNY Brockport faculty member, said Machado Guillen is an asylum
seeker from Venezuela whose work authorization is valid through 2029.
“He has no reason to be in detention right now, so we are here to show solidarity and support for him and to demand he gets full due process and comes home soon,” Karl said.
Karl said the union is in contact with Machado Guillen's family and is working to help ensure he has legal representation. The union also is contacting elected officials, including the New York governor's office.
SUNY Brockport students express concern
Students Louisa Gascoyne, a sophomore studying environmental science, and Revelo Fico, a junior nursing student, handed out flyers reading “Bring German Home!” during the rally.
Fico said Machado Guillen's detention has left students worried about the safety of people in their campus community.
“We all have friends, family and professors and people important to us here who now feel like they are in a lot of danger here, and it's definitely a threat to the community,” Fico said.
Gascoyne encouraged students to participate in the upcoming midterm elections.
“Get your mail-in ballots if you can't go home to vote; that's what I did,” she said. “Learn about the candidates and what they support so you can protect your community.”
Couple sought asylum in the U.S. in 2016
Velázquez, a journalist, said she and Machado Guillen fled Venezuela in 2016 after experiencing threats and harassment related to her work. The couple applied for asylum that year and are still waiting for their case to be adjudicated, according to the union's news release.
Velázquez said her husband has a valid Employment Authorization Document allowing him to work at SUNY Brockport through 2029. The document establishes authorization to work in the United States for a specified period, but it does not itself grant immigration status.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said in an email to the USA TODAY Network that “work authorization or a pending application does not confer legal status in the U.S.”
DHS says Machado Guillen overstayed authorized stay
DHS said Machado Guillen entered the United States on Aug. 30, 2016, with permission to remain until Feb. 27, 2017.
“In violation of our nation’s laws, he overstayed his welcome by almost a decade and failed to depart,” the department said.
DHS said Machado Guillen “will receive due process and remain in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.”
He is being held at the detention facility in Batavia.
For more information about Machado Guillen, visit his SUNY Brockport profile.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: SUNY Brockport students, faculty rally after employee detained by ICE
