Upstate Medical employee reunited with family in Syracuse after release from detention

Mohamed Fofana was back in Syracuse with his family after a federal court approved his release from detention, a sharp turn in the case of an Upstate Medical University employee whose deportation fight has unsettled co-workers, union supporters and immigrant-rights advocates across Central New York. The release came after a federal judge had ordered Fofana deported to Guinea on May 14, with appeals in the case due by June 15.

Fofana had been detained by immigration authorities in November 2025 before the latest court action freed him. He returned home to Syracuse on Sunday and was reunited with his family, friends and the community that had been watching the case closely. The release followed approval of a habeas corpus petition, which gave him a path out of detention without ending the underlying immigration case.

CSEA Local 615 President Ali Cottrell announced the reunion and has been among the most visible voices backing Fofana. The union has treated his detention as more than an individual legal matter, arguing that the case cut into the stability of a workplace that helps keep one of the region’s most important hospital systems running. In earlier remarks about related detentions, Cottrell described ICE detentions of a member as “a form of kidnapping,” underscoring the anger that has built among workers and supporters.

For Fofana’s family, the release meant the difference between waiting in uncertainty and having him home in Syracuse while the case continues. For co-workers at Upstate, it brought relief, but not certainty. His immigration status remains pending, and the deportation order to Guinea still hangs over the case even after the release from detention.

The broader concern in Onondaga County is that Fofana’s case is not isolated. CSEA said two SUNY Upstate Medical University employees were detained by ICE in one earlier incident while attending immigration hearings, and later reported that a third Upstate Hospital employee had also been detained. The union said those employees had served New York State since 2022 and 2024, adding to worries inside a major local health-care employer about staffing disruptions, workplace morale and the fear other immigrant workers could face the same abrupt disruption. Fofana’s return home brought one family some relief, but the legal and human uncertainty around the case remains in place.