Protestors were on the march in downtown Syracuse Tuesday, demanding local representatives vote to defund hate. Demonstrators added their voices to the immigration debate.

"No hate, no fear, immigrants are welcome here,” they chanted, marching from Representative John Katko’s office to the Federal Building. Richelle Brown, a volunteer at the Syracuse Immigrant and Refugee Defense Network, is using her voice to speak out for others.

"We overwhelmingly see that the ones that get stopped, the ones that get their papers requested, the one that gets detained and arrested are people of color,” she said. “People who don't look like me."

They're calling on Congress to fight against immigration detention and deportation efforts. As part of the national #DefundHate campaign, local activists wrote a letter to give to Chuck Schumer.

"It appears that it's perfectly acceptable to harass these people, to intimidate them, to keep them in a state of constant terror,” Richelle said, referring to ICE and CBP officers.

"People tell us stories, people who have made it out of this concentration camps,” said Rebecca Fuentes, who advocates for immigrants and low-wage laborers at the Workers Center of Central New York. “They have come to expect the most undignified conditions."

She wants Senator Schumer to know people in the community do not support this.

"We the people gave them the power,” she said. “We pay their salaries."

The silent vigils will be outside Representative Katko's office every Tuesday at noon. These will continue weekly, until the detention centers at the border are completely emptied.