Cordovans have mirrored communities across the country in their growing dissent against the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency the past few weeks – organizing various local demonstrations.
Protests have erupted across the country in the wake of ICE agents shooting and killing two Americans – Renee Good and Alex Pretti – in Minneapolis last month. Federal ICE agents have escalated their presence in American cities in recent weeks at the behest of President Donald Trump, who is attempting to fulfill his mass deportation campaign promise.
In Cordova, around 50 people gathered for a vigil after Pretti was killed in Minnesota on Jan. 24.
“It was very beautiful with everyone holding lighted candles and snow gently falling,” said Belle Mickelson, the reverend of St. George’s Episcopal Church.
Photos by Barclay Kopchak
She’s urging people to pray for everyone involved in these deportation conflicts that turn violent.
“I think we need to be praying and helping immigrants and refugees, our neighbors – and working to ensure that what happened to Renee Good and Alex Pretti doesn’t happen again,” Mickelson said. “But we also need to pray for the ICE officers who are being asked to do things that they will be sorry for later. We know that war creates tremendous trauma for those involved – and war is happening on our streets.”
Days later, Cordova resident Lee Collins got a group of 16 people to participate in a national memorial bike ride for Pretti, who was a part of the Minneapolis cycling community. The group on Jan. 27 rode a loop around town before heading out Orca Road and back
“I felt the importance of participating in this event as it was a positive and healthy way to show support for all the victims of our current situation,” Collins said.
Photo courtesy of Lee Collins
Then on Jan. 30, between 30 and 40 people showed up downtown to peacefully protest ICE, alongside various communities across the country.
Anna Hernandez, one of the organizers of the Jan. 30 demonstration, said she wanted to plan the collective action to combat the feeling of helplessness.
“There is so much frustration and rage that I feel about what is happening to our neighbors all across the country, and most of the time I feel helpless,” she said. “If you are feeling like me, here is something else we can do. Is it enough? I don’t know, but I know that it is something.”
The Cordova demonstration was part of a national day of action on Jan. 30, where protests spread from Maine to California. In Alaska, high school students led walk-out demonstrations in Anchorage and Fairbanks, nurses and health care workers rallied at the Alaska Native Medical Center in Anchorage, and protestors gathered outside the State Capitol in Juneau to condemn ICE.
Hernandez said the agency’s aggressive tactics are no longer a political issue.
“Murder, concentration camps – we have to name what this truly is,” she said. “It is time to stop being polite, to stop using nice words to describe the actual atrocities that are being committed.”
Hernandez said she hoped to foster a safe space for neighbors in Cordova.
“I am incredibly thankful for the neighbors who showed up, it was inspiring,” Hernandez said after the demonstration. “I hope to continue to see an increase in numbers in the future… as the issues we are facing in our country have long ago stopped being political, but moral and ethical.”
