Over 200 individuals gathered at the Wisconsin State Capitol on Friday evening, participating in the “ICEOUT Solidarity Vigil and Action.” The event was organized by VOCES de la Frontera and the Dane County Rapid Response Network.
The vigil was held two days after an ICE agent killed Minneapolis woman Renee Nicole Good, igniting anti-ICE protests across the country.
Friday’s vigil in Madison included hundreds of attendees holding anti-ICE signs and candles, in response to Wednesday’s shooting.
Voces de la Frontera is a membership-based community organization led by low-wage workers, immigrants and youth with a mission to protect and expand civil rights and workers’ rights, according to their website.
Voces de la Frontera facilitators, such as Race & Gender Equity Practitioner at YWCA Madison Libby Tucci, spoke on the difficulty of facing opposition from current administrations.
“There is privilege available to me that I draw upon to show up for my neighbors, not as a favor to anybody, but because it is part of being in an interconnected community,” Tucci said to the crowd. “We need each other, and I need my neighbors to be safe and have dignity, they need you.”
Tucci said there is an importance in being aware of resources provided by groups such as Voces and DCRRN.
Madison’s Socialist Alternative was present at the vigil, providing anti-ICE and anti-Trump posters, along with information regarding America’s workers movement.
Socialist Alternative is an organization campaigning for a new party of working people and fighting against all capitalist oppression, according to their website.
Vigil attendee and Socialist Alternative member Calista Holt spoke on Socialist Alternative’s stance with rising movements across the nation.
“We definitely need to do that [vigils], our protests should not be reactionary,” Holt said in an interview. “We really need to go on the offense, and we believe that the power is with the working class to respond to these escalations with continuing escalations and stopping further attacks.”
Holt said it is important to find a way to fit into the movement, being a part of some aspect, whether that means being aware and sharing knowledge, or attending vigils and rallies.
Two days after the Minneapolis shooting, Vice President JD Vance said the ICE officer who killed Good acted in “self-defense,” and blamed Wednesday’s events on “a left-wing network,” according to AP News.
Vigil attendee Ryan Syndric said Wednesday’s incident, with the current Trump administration having ICE agents go door-to-door is a repeat of the Gestapo.
“The administration is absolutely going into communities, trying to make people panic, trying to incite this violence, so that they can get a narrative that paints us in a bad light,” Syndric said. “We see they’re blatantly lying to video evidence.”
Syndric said the current administration needs to be held accountable for their actions and words.
According to VOCES executive director Christine Neumann-Ortiz, there are significantly heightened levels of funding toward the Department of Homeland Security for the current administrative immigration crackdown.
“You know, they’ve [DHS] received $170 billion that has been taken away from schools and clinics,” Neumann-Ortiz said. “So, you know, I think that her [Good’s] murder is state sponsored violence, and if we don’t stand up to it, then it’s going to get worse.”
The hotline for potential ICE sightings and detentions can be reached at (800) 427-0213.
