Approximately 30 county residents gathered to remember people who died either in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement or after encounters with federal immigration agents at The Square on Everett and Main streets Saturday afternoon.
Unity in Grief: A Call for Compassion was co-organized by Lauren Toinetta, who publicly expressed sorrow for the victims and their families.
The vigil was partly inspired by the Jan. 7 death of Renee Good, a 37-year-old Minneapolis woman who was fatally shot by an ICE agent during a law enforcement operation in the city, sparking protests and national debate about immigration enforcement practices. Good was a U.S. citizen, mother of three and poet, according to published reports.
Participants displayed pictures of people who died and listened as Garrett Lagan, chair of the Swain County Democratic Party, read the names of victims.
“It was a moving memorial for the lives lost to the GOP program of ethnic cleansing,” said Lagan. “The regime needs us to see immigrants as a faceless mob they can demonize with their racist lies. When we focus on the individuals and their lives, it is obvious they did not deserve to die.”
A local clergyman offered prayers but declined to be named.
Recent data indicates that 2025 was the deadliest year in decades for people in ICE custody, with about 30 to 32 deaths recorded nationwide — significantly higher than in previous years, according to analysis of agency figures and news reports.
Advocates and immigrant rights groups have raised concerns about detention conditions and use of force in enforcement operations, while federal officials have defended ICE’s practices and noted that deaths under custody are investigated case by case.
The Minneapolis investigation into Good’s death has drawn widespread attention.