03/05/2026
Read the Statement released on behalf of the Latinx Roundtable:
The Rochester Latinx Leaders Roundtable unequivocally rejects any proposal to place an ICE detention center in downtown Rochester, New York. Let us be clear: NO, not in our neighborhoods, not in the heart of our city, not in a community built by immigrants and sustained by their labor, culture, and leadership.
This proposal was advanced without public notice, without community input, and without transparency. Decisions of this magnitude, ones that reshape the character of a neighborhood and the safety of its residents, must never be made behind closed doors. The people of Rochester deserve to be consulted, and they were not. That alone is reason to halt this plan immediately.
The use of the Keating Federal Building by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement would bring fear and trauma into the very center of our community. This is a building that houses federal courts, vital public services, and a daycare center where children are present every day. Installing holding cells steps away from where families bring their children is not just poor planning, it is a moral failure. It would send a chilling message to Latino families, mixed status households, refugees, and other newcomers who already contribute every day as workers, business owners, taxpayers, and neighbors. Our downtown should be a place of opportunity and growth, not detention and division.
The presence of immigration enforcement operations in any community has been shown to increase school absences among undocumented children and the documented children of undocumented parents. Individuals grow fearful of attending to necessary medical concerns, leading to declines in health outcomes and increased reliance on emergency departments for diseases that have progressed to later, more expensive stages of illness. The fear of family separation takes a devastating toll on the mental health of families with uncertain immigration status. Heightened concern over racial profiling increases stress on documented community members of color who fear being harassed, mistakenly apprehended, or forced to prove their citizenship status. Businesses lose revenue as individuals limit all but the most essential purchases, causing economic harm that ripples outward to affect every resident and business owner in our community.
At a time when families are struggling to access affordable housing, adequate health care, and economic stability, the federal government should be investing in strengthening communities, not incarcerating them. Rather than spending $5 million to install holding cells in a building with a daycare, those resources should go toward housing, health care, and economic opportunity. We refuse to accept the notion that federal dollars should be used to intimidate and destabilize our neighborhoods.
Rochester is a proud sanctuary city; a commitment rooted in the belief that public safety depends on trust between all residents and the institutions that serve them. Placing a detention facility in the heart of downtown is a direct assault on that trust and on the values this city has long upheld. The Rochester Latinx Leaders Roundtable stands firmly with our immigrant community and says again, without hesitation: no federal detention activity in downtown Rochester. Not now. Not ever.
We call on every elected official who represents this community to vehemently oppose this proposal and demand its immediate withdrawal. We call on the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the General Services Administration to halt all plans to implement a detention center in Rochester.
