A group of Gary residents and activists gathered on a cold and wet Saturday morning to voice their discontent with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity in the city and across the country.
The demonstration took place in the Miller neighborhood near the South Shore Line train station and was one of several held nationwide following the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis last week.
“This is not the kind of country that our ancestors fought, bled, and died to live in,” said 1st District Councilwoman Lori Latham.
“We are here because we want justice for her. We want justice for our country,” Latham said. “This is the democracy that we have to fight for. It has never come easy, and we have to stand our ground to let everybody know that we want ICE out.”
Participants included members of Gary Advocates for Responsible Development, known as GARD, and the Black Labor Week Project, a group focused on labor and racial justice issues.
These latest protests came months after Kristi Noem, the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, visited Gary and held a news conference at Gary/Chicago International Airport alongside Indiana Gov. Mike Braun to discuss “Operation Midway Blitz,” an immigration enforcement operation that expanded into Northwest Indiana.
Noem said the operation resulted in more than 200 arrests, many of them commercial truck drivers, and outlined how ICE was working with Indiana State Police under a 287(g) agreement, which allows state officers to enforce certain federal immigration laws. Like this weekend’s protest, Noem’s visit attracted dozens of demonstrators to the airport.
Since the Obama administration, the Gary/Chicago airport has served as a hub for deportations. The Trump administration recently released a video featuring detainees being flown from Gary to South America.
ICE presence in the city has not been limited to the airport. Last fall, federal agents with ICE and the U.S. Marshals Service raided a home in Gary, forcibly entering and arresting an entire family.
Mayor Eddie Melton has criticized ICE actions in the region, urging residents to remain calm, prioritize their safety and understand their legal rights.
“The presence of federal ICE agents in our region is unsettling and causes significant concern within our community,” Melton said in a statement released last October. “I want to be unequivocally clear: my administration does not support the efforts or condone the actions of ICE raids that target our friends, family, and neighbors because of their race and ethnicity.”
Melton also emphasized the limits of local authority when it comes to federal enforcement actions, noting that the Gary Police Department is not permitted to intervene.
“While the Gary Police Department cannot legally interfere with the operations of a federal agency, our commitment remains to the safety and civil rights of every person who calls Gary home,” he said. “Our police officers are here to protect all residents and enforce local laws, and they will continue to serve our community with dignity and respect for all people.”