A roof-top showdown between U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and immigrant construction workers was watched by more than 100 Rochester community members. The confrontation took place Tuesday, Sept. 9, on Westminster Road near the corner of East Avenue.
That morning, CBP agents visited a house to target a group of three men conducting roof-work, according to eyewitness Pat Tobin, who lives on the block.
“There were a few men here going to work, paying their taxes, supporting their families,” Tobin said. “And yet this federal government says, you know what, we’re going to use our resources to come target you and kidnap you.”
Upon seeing CBP on the street, residents came out to protest their actions. They assembled in part because of a call made by the Rochester Rapid Response Network, a group established to support immigrants facing detention and deportation in the Rochester area. The group of protestors was quickly followed by state assembly members, including Rochester’s State Senator Samra G. Brouk.
“What we see is the federal government infringing on civil rights, human rights, rights of immigrants that we have long fought for,” Brouk said. “More than that, they’re doing it in a sanctuary city where we as a city have said that immigrants belong here and that we’re not going to turn you over to ICE or Customs and Border Patrol.”
Brouk explained that, at the time, the most she knew of the situation was that one person had been detained.
“There [were] other individuals who [were] still waiting to be able to leave as soon as customs and Border Control Patrol leave,” Brouk said.
Of the three construction workers, the one arrested was later identified by ICE as Jacinto Mayancela Guallpa.
“[Mayancela Guallpa] doesn’t have any record, been here 25 years, great worker, got a kid on the way, owns a house, all that,” Tobin said. “So they took [Mayancela Guallpa] as a threat to force the other two guys down who are day workers.”
A Spanish-speaking immigration attorney quickly joined the scene and climbed onto the roof to talk with the men, Tobin explained.
Despite not knowing the men personally, Tobin explained his and the rest of the crowd’s response to their frustration with CBP’s behavior.
“We just kind of parked here and started letting our opinion be known that this was not cool, and then just more people started showing up,” Tobin said. “The word got out … All of a sudden people just kind [started] of showing up. So ICE agreed to leave, which is great.”
During the standoff, an unknown actor slashed the tires of the CBP vehicle parked near the house the men were working on.
Though CBP had agreed to leave, they could not until a flatbed arrived to tow the vehicle.
Confusion arose and tensions grew higher amongst the crowd during the waiting period. Tobin addressed the crowd and apprised them of the situation.
“[CBP] has agreed to leave,” he said. “We’ve actually won the day.”
As the confrontation continued, bystanders grew more frustrated with the CBP’s presence. After people began to surround the disabled Border Patrol vehicle and chant, the agents drove the vehicle down the road to a different location to wait for the tow truck.
Footage on WHAM later showed the disabled vehicle eventually being loaded onto a flat-bed.
After CBP agents left and the crowds dispersed, Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs of Homeland Security Tricia McLaughlin commented on the day’s activity.
“As ICE was making the arrest, two other illegal aliens fled up to a rooftop and refused to come down,” McLaughlin responded. “These illegal aliens confirmed to law enforcement that they didn’t have legal status in the U.S. An attorney for the two illegal aliens arrived at the scene and agreed to bring them to ICE processing later in the day.”
McLaughlin added that neither the attorney nor the two men appeared at the ICE office, saying, “These illegal aliens remain at large.”
In McLaughlin’s statement, the crowd was described as “violent rioters” who “vandalized and slashed the tires of a border patrol vehicle.”
