Page 12 - Work Force April 2026

“I just fell in love with this place,”
said Bravo. “I learned to appreciate
the sunny days when they were
here. The weather and the changing
seasons made me appreciate life
more.”
Bravo also fell in love. Lake Placid
is where he met his wife, Mina.
One night, while out with friends,
he met someone who worked at
ORDA, who suggested Bravo apply
for a job. Bravo already had two
jobs, so when he was hired, he left
one and moved to part time at the
other. He saw more opportunity in a
maintenance position that paid fairly,
included good benefits such as paid
time off for sick days and vacations,
and had union representation.
Winter
As 2025 began, so did an
aggressive rollout of a mass
deportation agenda by the second
Trump administration. With quotas
and incentives for U.S. Immigration
and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
officers, workers were being plucked
off job sites, sent to detention
facilities in faraway states, deported
to the dangerous countries they fled,
or transferred to countries they had
no connection to.
Because they were married, Bravo
and his wife had their cases linked
in the USCIS system and kept a letter
from their attorney in their car in
case they were stopped.
Mina was picked up in early
November on her way to work.
“I started to panic,” recalled
Bravo. “I ran to [CSEA ORDA Local
President] Don Walton. I said she had
everything. We had everything but it
didn’t matter.”
“It was not happening to me—it
was happening to someone I care
about. It was terrifying,” said Bravo.
“That was the most stressful month
of my life.”
Mina was first sent to a jail in
Clinton County and housed with
the general population before
being transferred to another jail in
Lockport, six hours from Lake Placid.
December 8
After 38 days, legal wrangling
and bond posted, Bravo drove to
Lockport for the second time in three
days, anticipating a reunion.
“I was very excited that night after
so many ups and downs,” said Bravo.
“I was in a waiting room and was
assuming it was part of the protocol.
I was being naive.”
“Three ICE agents came toward
me. I said, ‘You’re here to release
my princess.’ I went to shake their
hands,” said Bravo. “They asked for
my ID. She walked in through the
door. They start asking questions,
and I was hugging Mina. They started
asking about my status and that’s
when I knew.”
Bravo noted that the agents told
him that if he was detained, it would
speed his own immigration process.
“I don’t really process emotions
too fast, not sure if that is a blessing
or a curse,” said Bravo. “They put
me in handcuffs. I begged them
to give me one minute to explain
logistics to my wife—where the keys
are, the hotel, everything.”
Bravo arrived at a chaotic scene
following the process and treat them
this way? I didn’t realize we were in
Nazi Germany. Unless you are Native
American, we are all immigrants.”
Davis and Walton stayed in close
contact and helped coordinate
monetary donations to offset
legal costs. Walton kept Davis
and Pombrio updated and stayed
in touch with Bravo during his
detention.
“I would wait to hear from him—
for his call,” said Walton.
During his detention, Bravo
became aware of our union’s efforts
to help.
“My wife said, ‘Donny is helping,’
and she told me there was a lot of
people pulling for me,” said Bravo.
“My wife is my only family here.
This place became my family. The
presence of our union makes me
happy and makes me feel like I am
not alone.”
The leave donations from ORDA
co-workers allowed Bravo to keep
his paycheck coming and continue
accruing time on the books with no
break in service.
After release on bond and return
to work in mid-January, Bravo asked
Walton if he could address his co-
workers at their weekly operations
meeting.
“I felt the need to extend my
gratitude,” said Bravo, “It was pretty
emotional.”
“He lightens up every room he
walks into,” Walton said. “People at
work say he brings the light—but
Alejandro is the light.”
Despite this, Bravo is still
struggling.
“It’s hard to now feel safe in a
place where I came to seek peace.
I don’t feel free anymore,” said
Bravo. “After everything I have been
through—trying to fight criminals
in Venezuela—now I feel like people
look at me as a criminal. I even have
to wear an ankle monitor like a
criminal.”
Even with spring and sunny days
eventually coming, Bravo and his
wife are not going out as much. He
continues his check-ins, goes to
work, comes home—and waits.
— Therese Assalian
at the processing center near Batavia
around 8 p.m.
“A lot of the people who were with
me had work clothes or uniforms
on,” said Bravo. “We were all first
put into a big cell while waiting for
processing, given a wristband and
blue clothing.”
Blue, the color code for
noncriminal detainees, was the only
color Bravo saw.
“Three days in a process cell with
20 or more people sleeping on a floor,
waiting for room to free up in the
detention center. Some people had
been there for 10 days,” said Bravo.
Bravo struggled with feelings of
anger and hatred, emotions that he
noted are not part of his nature.
“It’s pretty hard to break my will,”
said Bravo. “I was so pissed. I didn’t
do anything wrong to deserve this—
not just for me, but to my wife, too.”
“It was back to back and hit me
right in the jaw,” said Bravo. “There
were some moments when I was so
down and thought about going home
to not live in a place where I feel like I
don’t belong.”
From left, ORDA Local member Alejandro Bravo, ORDA Local President
Don Walton and CSEA Capital Region President Shana Davis discuss
Bravo’s detention.
Union family
As Bravo’s nightmare continued,
Walton reached out to CSEA.
“Who else am I going to call?” said
Walton. “Less than six months in as
local president, I called my labor
relations specialist Emy Pombrio,
about leave donation. She told me
this event was beyond his control,
so that set in motion the leave
donation.”
Capital Region President Shana
Davis connected with Walton the
same day.
“I started asking questions. I
wanted him to be able to know that
every member matters and every
local should be supported,” said
Davis. “At the time, I didn’t know
what we could do, but wanted to do
everything we could. The level of
fear, intimidation and violence where
he came from—only to have those
same feelings here—is something
that stays with me.”
Walton also felt the injustice.
“You can have whatever feelings
you have about illegal immigration,”
said Walton. “But how you can take
someone who came here legally was
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