More than 1,000 students, community members and activists protested Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s presence in American cities, holding a solidarity vigil on a cold, snow-covered Library Mall Tuesday evening.
The “No I.C.E. on Campus” rally and solidarity vigil, hosted by Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), provided handwarmers, candles and flyers to attendees. Many activists held anti-ICE and pro-immigrant signs expressing messages of solidarity and opposition to racial profiling.
Speakers addressed the crowd from the foot of Memorial Library’s steps, denouncing ICE brutality in cities across the nation and what they described as illegal detentions and acts of racial profiling under the Trump administration.
“ICE will kill more. They will attack protestors more, drag people out of their homes, separate children from parents and rape women and children in custody,” SDS Co-chairman Luca Motivala said to the crowd. “They will escalate endlessly until we, as a people, stand up together in a unified resistance.”
Motivala later told The Daily Cardinal, “It’s illegal, unjust kidnappings, rape and murder of citizens and non-citizens of the United States. Everyone’s entitled to the protection of the Constitution, and [ICE] continually violates not only that, but local states’ rights.”
University of Wisconsin-Madison alum Rob Koenig was alarmed by recent ICE activity, particularly the fatal January shootings of two Minneapolis residents — Alex Pretti and Renée Nicole Good. He returned to the UW-Madison campus to protest, carrying a sign comparing ICE to the Gestapo — Nazi Germany’s secret police.
“[The Gestapo] identified people, detained them and sent them to prison and extermination camps,” Koenig told the Cardinal. “We’re not there yet, but I don’t think the comparison is unfair.”
Koenig and other activists reflected on the moments leading up to Good and Pretti’s deaths, with Koenig saying Good told an ICE agent she “wasn’t mad,” and Pretti attempting to help civilians before the former two were shot multiple times.
“[ICE agents] are killing our neighbors and protestors,” SDS Co-chairman Bradley Keenan told the Cardinal. “Look around. You can’t ignore the fact that they’re using blind violence to suppress opposition and kill people extrajudicially.”
Elayna Torres and Gabriella Ramirez, two Latina freshmen at UW-Madison, said they were “heartbroken” by the increasing ICE violence but felt optimistic seeing the large crowd Tuesday.
“It shouldn’t happen to anybody, especially with what happened with that little five-year-old boy, too. That's crazy to see, but it does make me have faith in our country that there are a lot of protests going on and people are starting to step up and speak up for our people,” Torres told the Cardinal.
Ramirez also expressed fear for her and her loved ones being racially profiled, especially while attending a Predominantly White Institution.
“It’s a guilty feeling being on a campus that is PWI because you know you aren’t the standard, and you shine out compared to the others,” Ramirez said.
Motivala said SDS plans to continue anti-ICE action, building a quick response network across Madison to provide ICE whereabouts alerts and safety protocols for students with visas.
The “No I.C.E. on Campus” rally and solidarity vigil is one of three anti-ICE rallies this week, with one occurring at the Wisconsin State Capitol this past Sunday and another one at noon on Friday at Library Mall.
