About 100 people, including advocates and attorneys, rallied in support of immigrants in downtown St. Louis on Friday at Poelker Park.
The protest was organized by the St. Louis Rapid Response Coalition, which is a consortium of immigrant advocacy groups and nonprofits. It followed the detention of immigrants after they received text messages from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement earlier this week, according to the attorneys.
The texts ordered them to report to an ICE field office within 48 hours for a check-in or to have their ankle monitors removed, some advocates said.
Jessica Mayo, an immigration attorney and co-founder of the Migrant and Immigrant Community Action Project, said almost all of the immigrants who received text messages and reported to the ICE office have been detained.
As of Wednesday, at least eight people were detained by ICE, according to Chesterfield-based immigration attorney Hannah Sullivan.
Mayo said the Coalition hotline, a helpline for immigrants, has seen a significant increase in calls.
“We’ve had multiple reports of parents being taken and kids being left with no caregiver and ICE not caring — saying that’s your problem, deal with it,” Mayo said.
Mayo emphasized that immigrants who do not have legal status but are allowed to stay in the U.S. under the Intensive Supervision Appearance Program should seek legal aid and make arrangements for their children in the event they are contacted, and later detained, by ICE.
The text messages were sent to immigrants as Trump administration officials promised to increase deportations to nearly 3,000 per day.
“President Trump is going to keep pushing that number up higher each and every single day,” Stephen Miller, a top White House aide, said in an interview on Fox News last week.
Danny Poon, a St. Louis resident, felt compelled to join the protest on Friday after learning about Carol Mayorga, a Kennett resident who was detained by ICE before being released on Wednesday.
“I’m a child of immigrants. Since the first ICE sighting, it’s been causing a lot of stress and anxiety for me and my family,” Poon said. “Seeing people down in Kennett, seeing how they are really coming together, made me want to speak up where I can and also make sure me and family are OK.”
