“I didn’t know him, but he could have been my brother, he could have been a neighbor, he could have been my family,” said one vigil attendee in Chicago
This past weekend, community members from all across the country came together to hold Day of the Dead vigils remembering the rising number of immigrant neighbors who’ve tragically lost their lives while in federal immigration custody. In the San Francisco Bay Area, neighbors gathered at Todos Santos Plaza in Concord to read aloud the names of the reported 25 immigrants who’ve died in ICE custody in fiscal year 2025, the highest number in two decades.
🕯️ We remember their names. We honor their lives. We refuse to let them be forgotten. 🦋We join the families and advocates across the country in honoring those who died in ICE custody, and those who should still be here today. #DayoftheDead
— America's Voice (@americasvoice.bsky.social) 2025-11-01T19:05:16.229Z
“After the vigil, participants marched toward a main road and placed the 25 signs at Todos Santos Plaza for others to honor their memory throughout the day,” KTVU reported on the vigil, one of the more than 150 Disappeared In America Weekend of Action events throughout country on Saturday and Sunday. Top of mind for many participants during the Concord vigil was the urgent need to say that many of these deaths were entirely preventable, that these immigrant community members were a part of the fabric of this nation, and that their lives mattered.
“’It is meant to say that immigrants are here, they are part of our family, they are part of our neighborhood and we want to protect them,’ said Linda Carman of Alamo of her sign that read ‘Immigration builds our country,’” KTVU continued. “Other messages seen on signs in the crowd, included ‘families belong together’ and ‘immigrants drive our economy.’”
In Kentucky, Father Charles Uhlik of Grace Episcopal Church and Rev. Leah Eubanks of the First Christian Church of Dawson Springs joined Paducah community members to brave the rain and remember these immigrant neighbors.
“During the event, participants shared their stories, and a festival altar was erected with photos along with traditional items such as marigolds, sugar skulls, paper banners, and votive candles. Food, being a typical offering on a Day of the Dead festival altar, was also collected during a food drive benefitting the Family Service Society of Paducah,” WPSD reported. “Following the memorial vigil, protestors held signs in front of Park Avenue as cars drove past, signs read phrases such as ‘STOP ICE,’ ‘NO FEAR,’ and ‘IMMIGRANTS ARE WELCOME HERE.’”
In Connecticut, New Haven’s annual Day of the Dead celebration was dedicated to ICE victims, Yale Daily News reported. Unidad Latina en Acción organizer John Lugo acknowledged that while this is a fearful time for many due to immigration enforcement actions that have targeted immigrants and U.S. citizens alike, coming out for Day of the Dead this year carried added significance.
“Everybody’s afraid. There are a lot of issues convincing people to be on the streets,” Lugo told Yale Daily News. “People should know that we’re here, we’re going to stay, and we’re not going to stop bringing the good stuff that we bring to the community of New Haven.”
Community members also gathered in states including Florida, Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania to remember deceased immigrant community members. As the American Immigration Council recently noted, this year has actually been deadlier for detained immigrants than the COVID-19 pandemic.
They have been as young as 27-years-old. Brayan Garzón-Rayo, a Colombian immigrant who died by suicide in April, “did not receive a mental health evaluation due to staffing shortages,” KCUR reported. “Jail staff found Garzón-Rayo unresponsive in his cell with a blanket wrapped around his neck on April 7, according to the ICE report.” Isidro Pérez, a 75-year-old Cuban man, died while in immigration custody after six decades in the U.S. The fishing aficionado “lived on a boat anchored near a park in Key Largo, south of Miami, and spent his days sitting on a bench in a coastal park, his family says,” EL PAÍS reported in July.
“The families of some of the deceased have denounced the fact that the victims had no prior condition that would have predicted a tragic end,” EL PAÍS noted in its October report.
One grieving mom said that she was not aware of her 39-year-old son suffering any health difficulties when he suddenly died after being jailed at Adelanto ICE Processing Center, a privately-operated detention facility in southern California. “Her son, Ismael Ayala-Uribe, died on September 22 at Victor Valley Hospital, where he was transferred from the Adelanto Detention Center in California. Ayala-Uribe was arrested on August 17 while working at a car wash in Huntington Beach, where he had been employed for 15 years.”
One vigil ahead of the Disappeared In America Weekend of Action directly criticized the private prison corporations that are making massive profits off the detention of immigrant community members. “The concern that we have is one, that people are suffering under these conditions, and that that suffering has led to the loss of life,” said Pedro Rios, San Diego Program Director for the American Friends Service Committee. Indy Correspondent reports that at CoreCivic’s Otay Mesa Detention Center in southern California, the Department of Homeland Security watchdog previously found that the vast majority of in-custody ICE deaths between 2017 and 2021 were entirely preventable.
“Causes of death were largely due to inadequate medical care,” Indy Correspondent continued. “Though the exact number of deaths at Otay Mesa isn’t specified, the facility reflects a broader pattern: 52 migrants died in ICE detention nationwide during that period, amid widespread criticism of poor medical treatment and inhumane conditions that have intensified” since January.
In Chicago, dozens gathered to remember Silverio Villegas González, who was shot and killed by an ICE agent in September under unclear circumstances. While federal officials initially claimed that the immigration agent was “seriously injured” during the encounter, “bodycam videos from Franklin Park police officers showed the hurt ICE agent describing his own injuries as ‘nothing major,’” NBC News reported.
“Villegas González’s girlfriend, Blanca, described him as a ‘very kind, gentle person’ and said he was ‘someone who was wanted,’” reported the Tribune. “She said it’s hard for others to understand the pain she has gone through since his death.” Chicagoans who were otherwise complete strangers to Villegas González and his family said they wanted to show their support at the vigil not just because he was a member of the community, but because current immigration policy represents a risk to all.
“I didn’t know him, but he could have been my brother, he could have been a neighbor, he could have been my family,” community member María López told the Tribune. “It’s not because of his immigration status, it’s because he was a neighbor. It could have happened to anybody.”
