The text came while Cathy Feinem was enjoying a luncheon at the First Unitarian Church of Rochester: reports of ICE activity at a city home.
The Rochester Rapid Response Network said it received a report Monday of ICE activity at a home on Newcomb Street, prompting dozens of residents to gather. The network called for neighbors to show up and block any potential arrests.
“I thought, I have to do something,” Feinem said. “I couldn’t ignore it.”
Dozens of residents kept watch over the home May 18, sitting under the sweltering sun and taking laps around the neighborhood on bicycles to monitor suspected ICE vehicles. Several unmarked SUVs with tinted windows and out-of-state plates idled in the street. After about three hours, two of the SUVs sped off as neighbors jeered.
Details surrounding the confrontation are still unclear. A spokesperson from the Rochester Rapid Response Network said the hotline received a report early Monday that immigration officers came to the home to “detain or abduct” someone; their exact target was unknown. ICE did not immediately respond to emailed questions.
The homeowner declined to speak with the Democrat and Chronicle at the scene, but later told WXXI News that he was pepper-sprayed and shocked with a stun gun when ICE tried to detain members of his lawn care crew that morning.
Why was ICE on Newcomb Street?
Demonstrations like this one ― where community members come face-to-face with immigration agents ― have generally been rare in Rochester. Immigration enforcement is swift and secretive by design, and many times an arrest is complete in mere minutes.
Elsewhere in the neighborhood, it looked like a normal late spring day. Young children splashed in an inflatable pool and sprayed foam water darts into the hot sky. A woman was mowing her lawn. Bright yellow school buses followed their daily route.
“In a democracy, it is critical that we speak up and show up for the rights of our people,” Feinem said. “In Germany, people went about their every day business and look what happened,” she added, referencing the Holocaust.
Bryn Mugnolo was taking a break from house chores when she saw the call to action on an Instagram post. She drove about 30 minutes from Scottsville to join, checking her phone every so often to ensure the demonstration hadn’t ended before she arrived.
“If there’s a threat to our neighbors, there’s a threat to everybody,” she said.
Others skipped their lunch break or took unplanned PTO to join. They distributed fliers for an upcoming immigration hearing in Rochester, shared sunscreen and passed out water bottles. As other cars on the street emptied out, some of the demonstrators sat on the pavement to block ICE from moving closer to the house.
Many held their post even after the federal agents left.
— Kayla Canne covers community safety for the Democrat and Chronicle with a focus on immigration, police accountability, government surveillance and how people are impacted by violence. Follow her on Instagram @bykaylacanne. Get in touch at kcanne@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Dozens gather on Newcomb St. after report of ICE activity in Rochester
Reporting by Kayla Canne, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle / Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
