Buffalo — On Saturday, Sept. 26, a coalition called Evict ICE from 250 Delaware held a renaming ceremony at 250 Delaware Avenue, symbolically calling the building the “Montante Detention Center” to protest the presence of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the downtown office tower.
According to a campaign press release, more than 100 people briefly occupied the intersection of Delaware Avenue and Chippewa Street after the ceremony. The group said the intersection was held for nearly two hours before the Buffalo Police Department arrested eight participants on disorderly conduct charges.
The campaign — which says more than 5,000 Buffalo residents have signed its petition — framed the action as a protest against what it calls the Montante family and Uniland Development’s “profiteering from deportation,” and against ICE’s presence on the building’s seventh and eighth floors.
In a statement included with the release, the eight people arrested said: “Today, we invite the people of WNY to join us in taking action to end the ICE occupation of Buffalo.” The release also quoted Justice for Migrant Families Executive Director Jennifer Connor praising the action as “bold” and demanding that Uniland and the Montante family end their relationship with ICE.
The campaign also alleged in its release that in 2026 ICE has “abducted almost 3,000 people in upstate New York” and that “DHS pays Uniland Development $2 million per year to rent space for their field office.” Those claims are presented in the release as campaign assertions.
Evict ICE from 250 Delaware said it is calling on the Montante family, Uniland Development, and the building’s owners to refuse to renew DHS/ICE’s lease when it expires March 31, 2027. The coalition described its tactics as direct action, political education, and civic engagement alongside labor, civil-rights, and immigrant-rights groups.
The campaign supplied photos and video from the action with its release; a sample image from the event is available as a featured photo on this item.
