Protestors gathered at a home in Rochester, N.Y., after being alerted to immigration agents attempting to arrest roofing contractors working on the home.

According to reporting from NBC, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and other federal law enforcement arrived at the home on Sept. 9. Local residents saw the agents and called a rapid response network, which alerted what NBC described as immigration advocacy groups, protesters, faith leaders and officials who arrived.

Rachel Barnhart, a legislator in Monroe County, told NBC that ICE activity had risen in Western New York, but this was the first time the local community knew of an incident and responded, with more than 100 people heading to the home. 

“I saw two people sitting on the roof. It was frankly heartbreaking. The ICE agents were in the backyard, and in the front, a crowd was gathering,” Barnhart told NBC. “People were displaying hand signs to the men. They were telling them to stay strong. It was a very peaceful crowd.”

Reports indicate one worker was arrested while two others remained on the roof as the protesters gathered. According to Maria Garcia, program director of the Western New York Coalition of Farmworker Serving Agencies — a nonprofit supporting farmworkers and migrant families — she gained permission from the homeowner to speak with the roofers and speak on their behalf with ICE agents. She told NBC the ICE agents didn't have warrants for the business, property or individuals. 

In a statement released about the incident, ICE said it was arresting Jacinto Mayncela Guallpa, an immigrant from Ecuador. During the arrest, "two other illegal aliens fled up to a rooftop and refused to come down." The statement described the crowd as "violent rioters" who "attempted to prevent law enforcement from exercising their sworn duties." The statement goes on to say that the protesters vandalized and slashed the tires of a border patrol vehicle, and that the officers left "for their own safety."

"The attorney never appeared at the ICE office with the two other illegal aliens as promised to law enforcement. These illegal aliens remain at large," the statement said.

Barnhart, along with other local officials and immigration advocates, said they did not condone the slashing of the tires. Barnhart described the crowd as "very restrained" and "peaceful."

In an interview cited in Newsweek, Guallpa's boss, roofing contractor Clayton Baker, said Guallpa has lived in the U.S. for 25 years and has work authorization.

"He's never even had a speeding ticket. He goes to church every Sunday, he pays his taxes," Baker said. "But you want to come get him off a hard-working job? It's inhumane and it's sad."

Rochester has sanctuary city policies in place, including codifying an expanded policy last month. It remains unknown what charges Guallpa will face.

Immigration Reform

Aggressive immigration crackdowns have affected the roofing and insulation industry, as over half (61%) of its workforce is composed of foreign-born workers, per Census data. Construction employment has fallen for the third straight month, according to the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Additional BLS data shows there are more than 17,000 roofer job openings projected annually through 2032.

Roofing contractors are often caught in the middle, as they rely on an immigrant workforce to shore up the shortage of available skilled labor. Recent comments from Department of Homeland Security officials suggest that one of the more reliable ways of ensuring workers are permitted to work, E-Verify, is not a reliable source for vetting workers.

In July, a Gallup poll showed that more people view immigration positively than in the past. Fewer Americans want a decrease in immigration while also viewing deportation and border patrol increases less favorably. Support for a policy of deporting all undocumented immigrants fell from 47% to 38%.

A recent Gallup poll shows less than half of Americans are satisfied with how immigrants and Black, Jewish, Arab and Hispanic people are treated in the U.S. It's worth noting these attitudes are similar to the responses given when the question was asked in 2021. 

Immigration reform could lead to long-term solutions. The Dignity Act of 2025 proposes reformations like increased and faster green cards for workers, faster visa processing across the board and a modernized E-Verify system.

Meanwhile, the National Roofing Contractors Association has supported legislation that creates a new class of visa, an H-2C, designed to permit temporary nonagricultural workers to fill positions that have remained unoccupied for a specified duration in areas where the unemployment rate is 7.9% or lower.