ICE Out of Tulare holds community vigils in Lindsay and Visalia to speak out against Family Separation Policy, ICE raids
LINDSAY – No longer frozen by fear, members of the migrant community huddled together by candlelight last Sunday night in solidarity against ICE in Tulare County.
Kuyler Crocker, chair of the Tulare County Board of Supervisors, speaks at the event hosted by the migrant advocacy group El Quinto Sol de America. A similar vigil was hosted by ACT for Women and Girls in Visalia. Photo by Tom Kreger.
Local nonprofits and community action groups gathered in Lindsay and Visalia from 6-8 p.m. on Sept. 22 to hold vigils to break their silence regarding Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids targeting migrant families and to commemorate the families who have experienced first-hand the traumas of the Family Separation Policy and whose loved ones are being held in ICE Detention Centers across the country.
“We stand as a coalition united in solidarity with our migrant communities, and acknowledge the distress and trauma [ICE] activity has caused in Tulare County,” the group stated in a news release prior to the event.
The vigils were organized by ICE Out of Tulare, a coalition of advocacy groups focusing on issues such as reproductive and social justice, immigration and farmworker rights, as well as cultural acceptance and equality.
In Lindsay, El Quinto Sol de America hosted a vigil in front of city hall where speakers shared personal experiences and useful resources when encountering ICE. In Visalia, ACT for Women and Girls hosted a vigil centered around community healing activities, where folks will be given the space to share concerns through art mediums, followed by a community vigil ceremony at its office on Dinuba Boulevard.
In addition to El Quinto Sol and ACT, members of the ICE Out of Tulare Coalition included ACLU of Northern California, Coalition Advocating for Pesticide Safety (CAPS), Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), The Dolores Huerta Foundation, Faith in the Valley and O.L.A. Raza.
