Locals gathered in Yuma Wednesday evening for a community vigil for people killed by officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, nationwide since 2025.
Araceli Aquino read the names of the two men ICE officers killed this month in Texas and Maine, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo and Joan Durán Guerrero. Aquino read more than 50 more names.
While none of the reported cases appear to be in Yuma County, those who spoke at the vigil said all humans deserve dignity and a chance to go home to their loved ones.
John Dumermuth of Yuma held a sign calling for justice for Lorenzo and Joan as well as Renee Good and Alex Pretti, the two U.S. citizens killed by ICE officers in Minnesota in January.
"Even if people are here illegally, that's not a death penalty case," Dumermuth told KAWC. "We need to treat people with dignity, with respect and due process."
i asked Dumermuth what brought him to the vigil.
"I'm just concerned about people whose rights are being ignored and trampled on," he said. "(I'm here) in solidarity."
Dumermuth said that, on a personal level, his wife is a naturalized U.S. citizen but was born in Mexico.
"Sometimes she's afraid to leave the house because of what's going on," he said. "I take that personally."
Aquino said that although the group of more than 50 people who gathered on a warm July evening gathered under what she called "devestating circumstances" that it was powerful to come together.
"This should not be happening," she said. "We should not have to gather to mourn lives lost under circumstances like these. We should not allow this reality to become something we accept as normal."
NPR's Sergio Martinez Beltran reported this week that ICE is pausing traffic stops, as was the case with the two men killed this month.
NPR reports that neither had been the subject of an ICE targeted operation.
In an earlier statement, the Department of Homeland Security said Durán Guerrero had attempted to flee and that the officer, who has not been identified, shot him because he was "fearing for public safety."
In a statement regarding the Texas death, ICE said Salgado Araujo "weaponized his vehicle," though witnesses dispute that account. In both shootings, officers were not wearing body cameras.
Organizers for the Yuma vigil remind residents that they can report ICE activity and that citizens and noncitizens have rights when it comes to speaking with ICE agents, answering questions and denying permission to enter a residence or searching belongings.
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stay tuned to KAWC to hear from the Yuma community vigil for people killed by ICE officers.
