Updates & Announcements

Updates and Announcements: Emergency Protest – ICE OUT!

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January 17, 2025

Jan. 17 – On this day in 1893, the sovereign Kingdom of Hawaii was overthrown by a group of U.S. North American sugar planters and members of a secret white supremacist society called the Hawaiian League. Backed by the U.S. Minister to Hawaii and 300 U.S. marines, the coup d’état forced Queen Liliʻuokalani to step down and led, in 1898, to annexation and statehood.

SUNDAY, JAN. 18:

EMERGENCY PROTEST: ICE OUT!

In response to reports of a large influx of ICE agents, Richmond-area immigrants rights activists to hold rally

In response to a noticeably sharp increase in the presence of ICE agents in the Richmond area, local immigrant rights organizations are calling for a rally at 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 18 at Richmond’s Monroe Park, in the 600 block of West Main Street.

The organizations co-sponsoring the rally are Virginia Immigrants for Life, Liberation, Autonomy and Solidarity (VILLAS) and The Virginia Defenders for Freedom, Justice and Equality. 

Credible sources have reported that the federal government has sent around 180 Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to Richmond as of Friday, Jan. 16. ICE has been here for years and recently has been more visible on the streets, but this seems to be a sharp escalation in their numbers. 

We’re holding the rally to call on state and local elected officials including Gov. Abigail Spanberger and Richmond Mayor Danny Avula to protect our immigrant communities, and to encourage the general public to do the same.

Like Los Angeles; New Orleans; Memphis; Portland; Minneapolis and other cities targeted by the Trump administration, Richmond is a largely Democratic city run by a Democratic mayor, with a significant immigrant population. In Richmond’s case, the mayor himself is an immigrant.

Rally organizers will raise very similar demands that several of the immigrant rights groups presented Aug. 11 at a press conference and rally in front of Richmond City Hall. Those demands are:

ICE Out of Richmond Demands

  • We need to pass policies banning and ending all local and state collaboration with any federal immigration enforcement agencies, including but not limited to all 287(G) contracts.
  • We need to ban masked and unidentified policing.
  • We must ensure that Richmond does not renegotiate any contract with Flock surveillance cameras and/or any other surveillance technology.
  • We need to ensure legal and financial support from the state and the city for those detained.
  • We need to shut down all detention centers in Virginia.
  • Elected local and state representatives must accompany their constituents to immigration court hearings to protect against ICE kidnappings and ensure public accountability during proceedings.
  • We need sustainable sources of funding for the groups and organizations that have always filled in the gaps between our immigrant communities and local & state governments.
  • We demand that if our city and state leaders fail to act, all Richmond and Greater Richmond  residents step up and protect our neighbors from detention, deportation, and police violence. We have no other choice.

For more information, email DefendersFJE@hotmail.com or call or text 804-644-5834.

There are now more than 30 people who distribute The Virginia Defender newspaper around the state – but we need more. They say “information is Power” – and the Defender brings Power to the People. If you can spare just an hour or two every three months, please let us know. Email virginiadefendernews@gmail.com or call or text 804-644-5834. And thanks!

And if you’d like to help on a more consistent basis, think about joining one of the Defenders’ committees. You don’t have to be a Defender to join. The committees are:

And if you’d REALLY like to help, then think about joining the Virginia Defenders to fight for Freedom, Justice & Equality – and the kind of world that can make all that possible. Call, text or email us for more information.

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