SYCAMORE – Protesters gathered outside of the DeKalb County Administration Building, 110 E. Sycamore St., on Tuesday to honor the lives lost to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers with a candlelight vigil.
Rising tensions between ICE and communities in Minnesota sparked outrage with both DeKalb and Sycamore residents. Signs were held up demanding “Justice for Renee Nicole Good and Alex Jeffrey Pretti” and “No Troops.”
Katherine Hesik, an NIU alumna and a resident of Hinckley, reflected on the changes unfolding in her community.
“What’s happening is not right,” Hesik said. “Something needs to change fast with what is going on, because they are sending immigration officers into American cities, murdering them. All because Trump said, ‘I told you to’ – it sickens me.”
When asked about what should come next, Hesik didn’t hesitate to share how her hope for change is rooted in family.
“I want my kids to be safe,” Hesik said. “But not just them. I want all children safe.”
DeKalb teacher and community organizer, Veronica Garcia-Martinez, represented Esperanza Latina, a DeKalb organization, to give her thoughts on ICE and how it will impact the community in Sycamore and DeKalb.
“I think people don’t realize the impact this has on children and the Latino community,” Garcia-Martinez said. “We’re preparing to leave this country, a country that we called home our whole life.”
As the community faced yet another loss, Martinez was already thinking ahead. She spoke about organizing the vigil and the reactions she witnessed.
“When I saw that another person died, I kind of was prepared for this,” Martinez said. “I know that’s so sad to say, but we held the last vigil, and we knew that this was going to be a possibility. And here we are today. But this time, it wasn’t as quiet as the last one. This time, people are a little bit more outraged.”
“People seem to believe that, oh, we’re in DeKalb. They’re safe, but they’re not. They’ve already been here. They’ve already taken people.”
Candles glowed in the hands of attendees, signaling respect, but the vigil was far from silent.
Standing among the crowd, DeKalb resident Jennifer Holman shared her hopes and fears for the country’s future, outlining what she believes must happen to restore the nation.
“I feel fear for my democracy,” Holman said. “I just would like to see someone different in the White House. I would like to see a complete cleansing of the White House and of Congress, back to checks and balances, back to sanity.”
