Protesters outside NAHJ show the faces of dozens detained by ICE
For five hours on Friday, protesters held a banner outside the downtown Chicago hotel where they knew hundreds of Latino journalists would be gathered in an effort to bring attention to dozens of people who have been detained in recent months by federal immigration officials.
The small protest, organized by the Chicago chapter of RefuseFascism, featured the faces of 24 people who have recently been picked up by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Among the display of black and white photographs was Jeanette Vizguerra, an activist arrested in Colorado in March who remains inside an immigration detention center.
Members of the group said they specifically planned to position themselves outside of the 2025 National Association of Hispanic Journalists conference, which was underway inside the Chicago Hilton.
Jay Becker, a demonstrator, said the bilingual banner was a smaller version of a mural displayed at a recent Los Angeles protest against immigration raids in the city.
“The point is to … illustrate the real people behind these numbers that are reduced to a quota,” Becker said.
The group arrived at about 9:30 a.m. and continued its protest into the mid-afternoon.
Morena Herrera, one of the founders of the Citizens’ Group and the Feminist Collective, which advocates for the rights of Salvadoran women, stopped to talk to the group on her way to speak at an NAHJ panel focused on women’s rights and the importance of the role of journalists in covering the issue.
She said she can’t help but see similarities between El Salvador and the United States when it comes to human rights.
“Ahora en los Estados Unidos, muchos estados se parecen a El Salvador,” she said. “Creo que manifestaciones como las de afuera, son manifestaciones pequeñas que muchas veces no aparecen en los medios de comunicación porque no se consideran relevantes, pero son relevantes.”
Luisana Ortiz is an incoming senior at Syracuse University pursuing a dual degree in journalism and data analytics. She aspires to one day write profiles and cover underrepresented communties for The New Yorker. Reach her at luisanasofiawork [at] outlook [dot] com.
