Diana Moreno, Julia Salazar, Shahana Hanif Rally 100+ New York State Electeds to Demand Congressional Democrats Support Abolition of ICE
The three downstate electeds organized other local officials across the state to sign on.
More than 100 local elected officials across New York State have called on all congressional Democrats to publicly support abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in a letter co-authored by NYS Assemblymember Diana Moreno, NYS Senator Julia Salazar, and NYC Councilmember Shahana Hanif.
Released Monday, the letter was addressed to Senate Minority Leader Schumer and House Minority Leader Jefferies following the recent murders of two immigrant fathers, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo and Joan Sebastian Guerrero, at the hands of ICE.
After naming other victims murdered by ICE, and describing cruel or illegal offenses committed by the agency during the second term of US President Donald Trump, the letter writes that abolishing ICE is a matter of ensuring public trust and rule of law: “For the safety of our constituents and to restore public trust and the rule of law, we call on you and all congressional Democrats to publicly support the abolition of ICE and to leverage your positions to defund and dismantle this rogue federal agency.”
Per a PBS story, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was killed on July 10, 2026 while driving his construction crew to a work site in Houston, TX after ICE agents stopped his vehicle looking for someone else. Joan Sebastian Guerrero was killed in Biddeford, Maine on July 13, 2026. ICE agents were not seeking him out when they stopped his vehicle, leading to the murder, per a CNN article.
The two deaths have triggered yet another wave of national outrage and protests against ICE, renewing scrutiny of where congressional Democrats stand on abolishing or reforming ICE from the Democratic base. According to a public “Abolish ICE Tracker,” only 32 Democrats in the US House of Representatives currently support abolishing ICE. Neither Minority Leader Schumer or House Minority Leader Jefferies have come out in favor of abolishing ICE.
Moreno, Salazar, Hanif, and their office staff took the lead on organizing the letter and securing the sign-ons from across the state. The full list of electeds who signed on is below.
Julia Salazar- State Senator, District 18
Diana Moreno- State Assemblymember, District 36
Shahana Hanif- NYC Councilmember, District 39
Michael Gianaris- State Senate Deputy Majority Leader
Jessica Ramos- State Senator, District 13
Zellnor Myrie- State Senator, District 20
Jabari Brisport- State Senator, District 25
Andrew Gounardes- State Senator, District 26
José Serrano- State Senator, District 29
Robert Jackson- State Senator, District 31
Luis Sepúlveda- State Senator, District 32
Gustavo Rivera- State Senator, District 33
Nathalia Fernandez- State Senator, District 34
Patricia Fahy- State Senator, District 46
Samra Brouk- State Senator, District 55
Jeremy Cooney- State Senator, District 56
Kristen Gonzalez- State Senator, District 59
Michaelle Solages- State Assemblymember, District 22
Steven Raga- State Assemblymember, District 30
Khaleel Anderson- State Assemblymember, District 31
Jessica González-Rojas- State Assemblymember, District 34
Claire Valdez- State Assemblymember, District 37
Catalina Cruz- State Assemblymember, District 39
Ron Kim- State Assemblymember, District 40
Robert Carroll- State Assemblymember, District 44
Emily Gallagher- State Assemblymember, District 50
Marcela Mitaynes- State Assemblymember, District 51
Maritza Davila- State Assemblymember, District 53
Phara Souffrant Forrest- State Assemblymember, District 57
Grace Lee- State Assemblymember, District 65
Manny De Los Santos- State Assemblymember, District 72
Alex Bores- State Assemblymember, District 73
Keith Powers- State Assemblymember, District 74
Tony Simone- State Assemblymember, District 75
Rebecca Seawright- State Assemblymember, District 76
George Alvarez- State Assemblymember, District 78
Amanda Septimo- State Assemblymember, District 84
Emérita Torres- State Assemblymember, District 85
Yudelka Tapia- State Assemblymember, District 86
Karines Reyes- State Assemblymember, District 87
MaryJane Shimsky- State Assemblymember, District 92
Dana Levenberg- State Assemblymember, District 95
Sarahana Shrestha- State Assemblymember, District 103
Gabriella Romero- State Assemblymember, District 109
Jonathan Rivera- State Assemblymember, District 149
Shaun Abreu- NYC Council Majority Leader
Nantasha Williams- NYC Council Deputy Speaker
Christopher Marte- NYC Councilmember, District 1
Harvey Epstein- NYC Councilmember, District 2
Carl Wilson- NYC Councilmember, District 3
Virginia Maloney- NYC Councilmember, District 4
Gale Brewer- NYC Councilmember, District 6
Elsie Encarnación- NYC Councilmember, District 8
Carmen De La Rosa- NYC Councilmember, District 10
Shirley Aldebol- NYC Councilmember, District 13
Pierina Sanchez- NYC Council Member, District 14
Althea Stevens- NYC Councilmember, District 16
Justin Sanchez- NYC Councilmember, District 17
Amanda Farías- NYC Councilmember, District 18
Tiffany Cabán- NYC Councilmember, District 22
Shekar Krishnan- NYC Councilmember, District 25
Julie Won- NYC Councilmember, District 26
Ty Hankerson- NYC Councilmember, District 28
Lincoln Restler- NYC Councilmember, District 33
Jennifer Gutiérrez- NYC Councilmember, District 34
Crystal Hudson- NYC Councilmember, District 35
Chi Ossé- NYC Councilmember, District 36
Sandy Nurse- NYC Councilmember, District 37
Alexa Avilés- NYC Councilmember, District 38
Rita Joseph- NYC Councilmember, District 40
Kayla Santosuosso- NYC Councilmember, District 47
Alexandria Wojcik- Village of New Paltz Mayor
Rob Cantelmo- Mayor of Ithaca
Kristofer Munn- Asst. Majority Leader, Dutchess County Legislature
Abe Uchitelle- Majority Leader, Ulster County Legislature
Lisa Kaul- Dutchess County Legislator, District 6
Alix Winsby- Dutchess County Legislator, District 14
Carolyn D. Hoffman- Monroe County Legislator, District 25
Maurice Brown- Onondaga County Legislator, District 15
Genesis Ramos- Orange County Legislator, District 6
Stephen Hunter- Orange County Legislator, District 16
Greg McCollough- Ulster County Legislator, District 6
Veronica Pillar- Tompkins County Legislator, District 2
Jorge DeFendini- Ithaca Common Councilmember, Ward 1
Kathy Nolan- Ulster County Legislator, District 22
Ducson Nguyen- Ithaca Common Councilmember, Ward 2
Kayla Matos- Ithaca Common Councilmember, Ward 1
Michael Tierney- Kingston Alderman, Ward 2
Hannah Shvets- Ithaca Common Councilmember, Ward 5
Giselle Martinez- Newburgh City Councilmember, Ward 1
Michele Hirsch- Kingston Alderwoman, Ward 9
Evan Menist- Poughkeepsie Common Councilmember, Ward 2
Ernest Henry- Poughkeepsie Common Councilmember, Ward 1
Daniel Atonna- Poughkeepsie Common Councilmember, Ward 8
Ondie James- Poughkeepsie Common Councilmember, Ward 5
Mary Lupien- Rochester City Councilmember, East District
Stanley Martin- Rochester City Councilmember, At-large
Natalya Lakhtakia- Board of Education President, Saratoga Springs City School District
Greg Campbell-Cohen- Troy City Councilmember, District 6
Emma Arnoff- Dutchess County Legislator, District 2
Joseph Donaldson- Ulster County Legislator, District 8
Paloma Wake- Beacon City Councilmember, At-Large
Nate Hotchkiss- Binghamton City Councilmember, District 4
Claire Cousin- Hudson Common Councilmember, Ward 5
Nedra Patterson-Thompson- Poughkeepsie Common Councilmember, Ward 7
Tamika Stewart- Newburgh City Councilmember, Ward 3
Andrew Zink- Village of Saugerties Board Trustee
Editing Credit: River Shi
Thank you River!