UMD YDSA Holds Vigil at Memorial Chapel for People Killed by ICE

More than 100 University of Maryland students and community members gathered Monday night at the Memorial Chapel to mourn people killed in incidents involving Immigration and Customs Enforcement and to speak out against the agency’s actions. The campus Young Democratic Socialists of America chapter organized the vigil, which Southern Maryland Chronicle reported began at 7 p.m. and moved inside the chapel as attendees took shelter from the cold.

Speakers and participants named Renée Nicole Good, Alex Pretti and Keith Porter Jr. among those spotlighted, and Southern Maryland Chronicle additionally listed Parody La. The Diamondback photographed signs protesting ICE outside the chapel as the event started. Attendance estimates varied by outlet; some reports described “nearly 100” people in attendance, while others repeated the “more than 100” figure and noted that over a dozen UMD students came to the microphone while dozens more sat in the chapel pews.

Participants held a moment of silence and lit candles to honor the victims’ legacies, and speakers tied the deaths to wider patterns of state violence and racialized neglect. Nick Cosgrove, co-chair of UMD YDSA and a sophomore studying American studies and communication, said the vigil was intended to build community and draw attention to those left out of headlines. “Giving people that communal space to show that they’re not alone, I think that was a really important part of this,” Cosgrove said. “Even without that, I think it’s important to honor the deaths of people who have been wrongfully murdered.” He also said, “We want to draw attention to everyone that’s been harmed by ICE, including the marginalized communities that often get ignored or left out of headlines.”

Speakers linked the deaths to a broader culture of dehumanization. Mohammed Salih, a senior public health science major, said, “When the victim is Black, there’s no outrage. People don’t necessarily feel the need to go out.” He added, “The dehumanization in itself means violence against Black people is normal, and that they’re consistently dehumanized.” Divine Masumbe, a sophomore in the letters and sciences program, reflected on missed opportunities for larger-scale protest, saying, “For Keith Porter, I think even if there was such a backlash, perhaps the deaths of Renee Good or Alex Pretti or any of the other victims could have been prevented because… hopefully [we] would have seen general strikes or big protests or something like that.”

University alum Noah Chang closed the program by framing silence as complicity. “Turning a blind eye to state-sanctioned violence that causes harm to communities enables white supremacy,” they said. “If you are here, it probably means that you are fed up with lies,” Chang added. “The truth is calling us, not only for our grief, but for our action.”

Organizers placed the vigil within a national context of deaths related to federal immigration enforcement: The Guardian has reported that at least eight people have been killed by federal agents or have died in ICE custody so far this year and that 2025 was the agency’s deadliest year in more than two decades, with 32 deaths in ICE custody attributed to causes including heart failure, respiratory failure, stroke, tuberculosis or suicide.

For residents of Prince George’s County and the UMD community, the vigil underscores ongoing public health and equity concerns: grief and trauma from fatal encounters with law enforcement, patterns of racialized media attention, and demands for greater oversight and transparency of federal agencies. Organizers also promoted additional campus actions, including a separate mass vigil by the clocktower on Feb. 12 at 7 p.m., as students and community members plan next steps in accountability and collective mourning.