“When a white woman can be killed without justice, you know that no one is safe in America,” said Cesar Vasquez, a rapid response organizer for 805 Undocufund.
A woman was shot and killed on January 7 after an encounter with ICE agents in Minneapolis. Since then, organizations across the country, like 805 Undocufund and Indivisible Santa Maria, have protested the agency’s actions.
These local organizations gathered at Santa Maria City Hall on Saturday afternoon.
Danny Mogg is the safety captain for Indivisible Santa Maria.
“The death of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis was horrifying,” Mogg said. “That hits pretty close to home. We felt as if we needed to speak out against that as soon as possible.”
Despite the protests, the White House administration said the ICE agent acted in self-defense.
“The reason this woman is dead because she tried to ram somebody with her car, and that guy acted in self-defense,” Vice President JD Vance said in a press conference. “That is why she lost her life.”
During Saturday's protest, dozens of community members gathered to hear the names, read by 805 Undocufund, allegedly taken by ICE in the last few months.
One protestor, who asked to go by Lane S., said before moving back to the Central Coast after 7 years away, she didn’t know ICE was affecting smaller communities like Santa Maria.
“I think that there's largely a big misconception, myself included, before I moved back, that this was happening in the headlines and in big cities,” she said. “It's been happening here for years. It's not new with us administration. It's just ramped up.”
Some protestors said they traveled from different parts of San Luis Obispo County and Santa Barbara County to support their local community and participate in a larger national conversation. Alexandria Davis said the protests are a good start toward being heard.
“It's heartening to me that people are pushing back, especially since I know that there are times when we didn't,” Davis said. “I’m definitely still worried about what's going on, but I'm glad to see there's pushback against all this.”
I reached out to ICE on Friday afternoon but have not received a response.
