On Saturday, July 25, over 135 communities (and counting) across the United States will hold vigils, protests, and demonstrations to demand justice for Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, Johan Sebastian Guerrero, and many more who have been killed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Neighbors will gather to pay their respects, pray, mourn, and demand ICE OUT!
Find all events here.
On the streets and across the agency’s more than 200 abuse-ridden detention facilities, ICE is making communities less safe. Communities are demanding that the ICE agents involved in these killings, Department of Homeland Security Sec. Markwayne Mullin, the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and all related agencies under the Trump administration are held accountable.
We demand:
- Immediate Transparency: DHS must immediately release the key witnesses to Lorenzo’s death and halt their deportation proceedings so they can safely participate in any investigation and legal process.
- Full, Independent Investigations: We demand a transparent investigation into these killings that includes cooperation from all law enforcement agencies and accountability for any officer found to have committed misconduct.
- ICE Out!: We call on all state and local leaders to end the use of state resources to support federal immigration enforcement and remove ICE from our streets. DHS must remove all ICE agents from the streets and all cities and states must stop all coordination with ICE.
On July 7, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was shot and killed by an ICE agent in Houston while driving a work van with his crew. Only a week later,on July 13, ICE fatally shot 26-year-old Johan Sebastian Guerrero in Biddeford, Maine while his wife and toddler were forced to witness his murder. Both men were beloved members of their communities, killed on their way to work, leaving their families broken.
Since then, two more individuals in Florida and in Georgia have been killed by ICE’s chaotic and violent occupations of U.S. cities.As ICE takes more lives, communities are becoming more outraged and taking to the streets to protest and mourn together. Everyday people now demand action from local and national leaders to stop these federal agencies from killing our neighbors, family and friends. .
The day of action is being planned by volunteers, neighbors, families, and organizations nationwide, with the support of the Disappeared in America project hosted by Public Citizen, the National Day Laborers Organizing Network (NDLON), The Workers Circle, Detention Watch Network and League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC). A core principle behind all Disappeared In America events is a commitment to nonviolent action.
This content originally appeared on Common Dreams and was authored by Newswire Editor.