ROC DSA Steering Committee | September 8, 2026
This August saw the highest number of immigration arrests on record at 50,925, surpassing the previous record of 50,208 set in July. More than 65,000 people are currently being held in ICE detention. In the first eighteen months of Trump’s presidency, ICE detention in Monroe County increased by 1,500 percent. Most of those detained have no prior criminal record, and we know all too well of the hardworking and caring friends and family members who are missing.
Meanwhile, the federal government is building a detention center in our own backyard, and despite community concerns our County Legislature just approved grant funding that requires coordination with Customs and Border Protection (CBP). We need reassurance that our neighbors are being protected.
ROC DSA applauds the leadership of the City of Rochester and New York State on this issue. Rochester has considered itself a sanctuary city since May 1986 – a policy recently upheld to the embarrassment of the Trump Administration’s lawyers. At the state level, immigration reforms now ban formal 287(g) agreements, bar local jails from being used for immigration detention, and prohibit local governments from contributing to the costs of immigration detention facilities.
Monroe County needs to plug the gaps by barring all forms of coordination, whether under 287(g) agreements or otherwise. The state policy does not bar much of the coordination we have witnessed. In Illinois, similar state-level legislation is being undercut by informal coordination. And despite the protests of County legislators that Operation Stonegarden is “not about enforcing immigration laws or facilitating deportations,” an investigation by New York Focus has found examples of sheriffs participating in immigration arrests under the program. Already, sheriffs across New York are challenging the state’s legislation, and our own sheriff, Todd Baxter, joined Republican sheriffs from eleven other counties to speak out about the proposed legislation in April. We do not trust the Sheriff’s pinky-promises about enforcement policy.
ROC DSA also demands that the County use its economic leverage against the proliferation of detention centers by divesting from companies involved in their construction.
Recently, many of our legislators took photo ops in front of Lake Ontario, or released strongly-worded statements against the Trump regime. It’s time they back this rhetoric up with action.
This proposal to Protect Our Neighbors may not achieve our vision of a clear path to citizenship for all, ending deportation, abolishing ICE, and dismantling detention centers. However, it is an important step toward building a bastion of resistance against the rising tide of fascism.
We encourage our community to give voice to those too vulnerable to speak out. And we encourage our legislators to remember that they represent all county residents, and have a duty to use their privileged position for our protection.