Editor:
My heart is heavy with grief as I read a list of 35 names of people who died while in ICE detention during 2025. These individuals leave behind families and friends who will never be able to see their loved ones again.
Their absence leaves a gaping wound in our communities. ICE’s continuing aggressive and violent abduction of immigrants in 2026 is exacerbating those wounds while inflaming fear, anger and sorrow.
As a privileged white woman, I want my immigrant neighbors to know I support you. I implore others who are not current targets of ICE to join me in defense of our immigrant neighbors and friends. I invite all concerned community members to memorize and share the hotline (707) 200-8091 to report a possible ICE sighting and to join events organized to learn about our immigrant and constitutional rights.
Together we make a stronger community, caring for each other and building trustworthy and reliable friendships as we co-create the beloved community that the late Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. envisioned and described so eloquently.
Linda Goff Evans, McKinleyville
This article appears in Arcata Rises Up for Fire Victims.