San Gabriel Valley residents gather at vigil to protest ICE raids

Residents and local officials in the San Gabrlel Valley gathered together Wednesday night for a candlight vigil to support those affected by the recent wave of federal immigration sweeps across Southern California.

The event was organized by LA Voice — a multi-faith activist organization that has held multiple vigils and demonstrations in Los Angeles since the raids began but sought to build more connections between community members inland.

“ICE out of SGV! We are not alone! We keep us safe!” the crowd chanted at Baldwin Park’s Zocalo Park on Wednesday evening.

Two attendees, ages 12 and 19, are among those at Wednesday night’s vigil protesting immigration raids in the San Gabriel Valley.

“We’re a very vulnerable area,” said Sam Sandoval, who organized the vigil and is a volunteer at LA Voice. “We don’t have the same resources as many people do. We have a lot of unincorporated areas that don’t know how to mobilize. We’re trying to be that epicenter.”

Volunteers passed out candles to participants, who watched as local San Gabriel Valley leaders and artists took to the stage to offer their own account of hope and resilience.

Rose Butanda of Alta Loma prays during Wednesday night’s vigil.

Local writer Mariam Lora, who comes from a mixed status family, processed her feelings through a poem that she read to the crowd, which compared President Trump to a chili guerrito, saying “a truly brainless fruit … he doesn’t know what we’re capable of. All I know is he doesn’t scare me.”

Lora said that coming out to events like these can be difficult for her, but writing the poem and sharing it with a crowd that cheered her on allowed her to process it.

“I feel a little bit lighter overall, because I was able to express how I feel about the situation,” she later told The Times. “I feel like it was a good release.”

Emmanuel J. Estrada, the mayor of Baldwin Park, was the last to speak. He acknowledged the constitutional oath he took when he was sworn into office — one that he said is currently being violated at the federal level.

“It’s OK to be scared, and it’s OK to feel uncertainty, it’s OK to feel fear,” he said. “But it’s not OK to allow that fear to allow us to conform. We cannot allow what’s happening now to be the new normal.”

A community member cups her hand near the candle to keep the flame from blowing out during the vigil.

A local performer closed out the night with a soft guitar melody as those in the crowd brought up flowers and placed them throughout a sea of candles. But most attendees stuck around for much longer to connect and chat with their fellow community members.

“When we make an event interfaith, we have so many people just wanting to come together and feel that community,” Sandoval said. “We’re all based on love and we’re all based on standing together.”