Chicagoans Mourn Victims Of ICE Killings In Candlelight Vigil: ‘We’re Still Waiting For Justice’

PILSEN — About three dozen neighbors and organizers gathered Thursday in Pilsen to call for justice after federal immigration agents fatally shot two people within a week.

Longtime advocates for immigrants and other Chicagoans held a candlelight vigil Thursday at St. Procopius Catholic Church, 1641 S. Allport St., to mourn immigrants and others killed by federal immigration agents during the second Trump administration.

Attendees denounced the July 10 fatal shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a Mexican immigrant, at the hands of federal immigration agents in Houston, Texas. They also called for justice for Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrer, a Colombian immigrant who was shot and killed by a federal immigration agent this week in Maine.

“We’re seeing a new level of violence against immigrants, who are getting shot in the streets,” said Carlos Arango, an organizer with the local group Frente Nacional de Inmigrantes, or National Immigrant Front.

Thursday’s vigil was one of dozens of demonstrations that emerged across the United States condemning ICE’s tactics and calling for full investigations into Salgado Araujo and Durán Guerrer’s slayings.

Salgado Araujo and Durán Guerrer are among at least 10 people who have died during encounters with immigration agents during the second Trump administration. In many of these deaths, video footage and witness accounts contradict the Department of Homeland Security’s accounts, according to The Associated Press. No agents have been charged.

For Chicagoans, the recent shootings hit close to home, as ICE agents fatally shot Silverio Villegas Gonzalez, a father of two, this fall during a traffic stop in Franklin Park. The shooting was highly controversial — but local officials didn’t launch probes into it.

On Thursday, neighbors again called for an investigation into Villegas Gonzalez’s death.

“We’re still waiting for justice for Silverio Villegas Gonzalez,” Chicago organizers said.

These deaths follow “a pattern” where agents justify fatal shootings by claiming the victims posed a danger to agents, organizers said. But officials and everyday people have repeatedly questioned if that’s accurate, criticizing ICE agents’ tactics and noting discrepancies in agents’ accounts compared to what eyewitnesses say happened and what video footage shows.

Maine officials said it appears Durán Guerrer was mistakenly shot and killed while agents were searching for another person, The New York Times reported. The ICE agent who shot him had a violent history and had struggled with mental health since childhood, The AP reported.

The Department of Homeland Security was going to halt traffic stops for immigration arrests after Durán Guerrer’s slaying. But President Donald Trump quickly reversed the decision, according to national reports.

Holding candles and pictures of Salgado Araujo, neighbors on Thursday decried the violence against immigrant communities such as Pilsen under Trump’s immigration crackdown.

They called on Congress to start investigations into these incidents and stop more ICE deaths.

“It’s a critical moment for immigrants and, frankly, all communities,” Arango said.

The vigil included a Spanish-language Catholic mass where organizers prayed for justice and peace “for Chicago and for every impacted family.” Attendees lit candles to mourn ICE victims.

Longtime immigrant rights organizers said the religious service offered them an opportunity to call for peace and comfort for all those who have been affected by restrictive immigration policies.

“We need all action, from protests and marching on the streets to prayer,” said Aida Flores, a Pilsen neighbor and candidate for the 25th Ward office. She co-organized the vigil.

The vigil comes at one of the most violent times against immigrants, many of whom are being detained without due process and detained in troublesome conditions in for-profit detention facilities across the country, Arango said.

Neighbors must stay organized to defend immigrants’ rights, attendees said.

“This is Pilsen. If you have documents because of [the 1986 mass] amnesty, it’s because we fought for it,” a neighbor said.