On November 1st, 40 people gathered together at Noble Park, despite a temperature drop and cold rain drizzling on them as the event started, for a Día de Los Muertos memorial vigil for those who have died in ICE detention in 2025. The event included a protest opposing ICE as well as a food drive raising over $250 in cash and online donations, and approximately 6 boxes of food. This event was organized by Four Rivers Indivisible.
Rooted in Indigenous traditions of Mesoamerica, Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) brings awareness to the passing of loved ones through celebration and remembrance. A tradition of this day is to build an altar to the dearly departed. This is known as an ofrenda. These ofrendas are filled with marigolds to lead the dead home, monarch butterflies to carry their souls, and food and water to nourish their spirits.
The food drive donations were placed in front of the altar to honor and remember their memory. All donations went to Paducah Family Service Society on Broadway. A link to donate is listed at the bottom of the page.
22 lives have been lost since January 2025 in ICE detention centers. Here is a list of their names, ages, country of origin, and where they died:
Genry Donaldo Ruiz-Guillen (29), born in Honduras, Krome Detention Center, Florida
Serawit Gezahegn Dejene (45), born in Ethiopia, Eloy Detention Center, Arizona
Maksym Chernyak (44), born in Ukraine, Krome Detention Center, Florida
Juan Alexis Tineo-Martinez (44), born in Dominican Republic, ICE detainment center in San Juan, Puerto Rico
Brayan Rayo-Garzon (27), born in Colombia, Phelps County Jail in Rolla, Missouri
Nhon Ngoc Nguyen (55), born in Vietnam, El Paso Detention Center, Texas
Marie Ange Blaise (44), born in Haiti, Broward Cetention Center, Florida
Abelardo Avelleneda-Delgado (68), born in Mexico, died in transport to Stewart Detention Center, Georgia
Jesus Molina-Veya (45), born in Mexico, Stewart Cetention Center, Georgia
Johnny Noviello (49), born in Canada, BOP’s Federal Detention Center in Miami, Florida
Isidro Perez (75), born in Cuba, Krome Detention C, Florida
Tien Xuan Phan (55), born in Vietnam, Karnes County Detention Center, Texas
Chaofeng Ge (32), born in China, Moshannon Valley Processing Center, Pennsylvania
Lorenzo Antonio Batrez Vargas (32), born in Mexico, Florence Detention Center, Arizona
Ismael Ayala-Uribe (39), born in Mexico, Adelanto Detention Center, California
Santos Reyes-Banegas (42), born in Honduras, Nassau County Correctional Center, New York
Oscar Rascon Duarte (58), born in Mexico, Eloy Detention Center, Arizona
Norlan Guzman Fuentes (37), born in El Salvador, shooting in ICE office in Dallas, Texas
Miguel Ángel García-Hernández (32), born in Mexico, shooting in ICE office in Dallas, Texas
Leo Cruz-Silva (34), born in Mexico, Genevieve County Cetention Center, Missouri
Huabing Xie (age unknown), born in China, Imperial Regional Cetention Center, California
Hasan Ali Moh’D Saleh (67), born in Honduras, Krome Detention Center, Florida
Estikakur Rahman (19), born in Bangladesh, Camp East Montana (Ft. Bliss)
Gabriel Garcia Aviles (50s), Mexican national, Adelanto Detention Center, California
Kai Yin Wong (63), born in China, ICE Processing Center in Pearsall, Texas
Here are some of their stories:
“My name is Mariel, and it breaks my heart to be writing this. Our beloved father, brother, friend Gabriel Garcia Aviles earned his wings 10/23/25 at 7:42pm while [having] been detained by ICE. He got detained by ICE 10/14/25 in the city of Costa Mesa. He got really sick and was taken to the hospital the same night [and] we never got the chance to speak to him anymore and never was called to let us know why he had been transferred to the hospital. My father was a very happy person who was always really friendly to everyone. His absence has left a hole in our hearts words can’t describe how broken we are feeling. I’ve never been the one to ask for help, but right now, I find myself a loss. The financial weight of planning my father's funeral [has] been overwhelming. Any amount you can helps us with or even a share is truly appreciated and will help us honor our father Gabriel’s memory and lay him to rest with the love and dignity he deserves. Thank you for taking the time to read this, and for keeping our father in your prayers.” - Mariel Garcia
Go Fund Me for Gabriel Garcia Aviles
“A 68-year-old Mexican-born man has become the first ICE detainee in at least a decade to die while being transported from a local jail to a federal detention center. Abelardo Avellaneda Delgado’s exact cause of death remains under investigation, according to Ice, but the Guardian’s reporting reveals a confusing and at times contradictory series of events surrounding the incident.… Avellaneda Delgado lived most of the last 40 years in the U.S., raising a large family, working on tobacco and vegetable farms - and never gaining legal immigration status. He was arrested in Statenville, Georgia on [April 9th] due to a parole violation - and died on [May 5th] in the back of a van about half-way between the Lowndes county jail and Stewart detention center…. Two of Avellaneda Delgado’s six children who lived with their father told the Guardian he had no health conditions before being detained – but somehow was put in a wheelchair during the weeks he spent in jail, and was unable to speak during a family visit. The Guardian learned that he was given medications while in jail.” - The Guardian
“Isidro Pérez spent his life by the sea: first, during his childhood in Cuba, and at the end, on a house-boat off the coast of Key Largo with his dogs. He arrived in the U.S. in 1966 at the age of 16 and worked as a mechanic and fisherman. In the early 1980s, he was convicted of marijuana possession ‘with intent to distribute,’ but his family said he turned his life around. His daughter and six stepchildren offered to buy him an apartment in his later years, but he declined.
‘He was like a bird that didn’t want to be caged up,’ his stepdaughter, Alba Patricia Gomez, told reporters.
On June 5th, five immigration officers arrested Pérez, 75, at a community center….Officers took him to Krome North Service Processing Center in Miami…Three weeks later, on Thursday, Isidro Perez died in U.S. Immigration and Customs custody.” - Miami Herald
"Ismael Ayala-Uribe, 39….died in hospital alone, miles from his family, after being detained by U.S. immigration officials.
Ismael Ayala-Uribe, who had lived in the U.S. since he was four, fell ill while in an immigration detention centre in California… He complained of a fever and had a persistent cough in the weeks before he died, according to his mother Lucia.
She said he was initially treated by medical staff inside the detention centre but was returned to his cell. He was eventually taken to hospital for a scheduled surgery to remove an abscess on his buttocks, but died before he was able to have the operation.” - News Sky
Fr. Charles Uhlik of Grace Episcopal Church led a prayer for the lives taken and for those fighting for their justice. Rev. Leah Eubanks of First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Dawson Springs delivered a powerful speech reminding us that the cost of freedom is sharing it with everyone and fighting for it when opposed.
“We stand together in solidarity with families who grieve their loved ones. We stand to acknowledge the lives of these twenty-two individuals. Twenty two lives, twenty two hopes and dreams, twenty two families, twenty two individuals that joined the great cloud of witnesses. May we never forget, so that we may never repeat. May we never forget their humanity. these twenty two are now apart of our American ancestral family. We stand in the light of their spirit today, in the light of their hopes and dreams, in the great call for justice and liberty. May their lives live on in our memories as we continue the quest for liberty and justice FOR ALL,” Rev. Leah Eubanks.
In immigration detention; overcrowding, isolation, and extreme conditions, including little to no medical care and/or mental health services, are a lethal combination that puts lives at stake. Detainees have described it as ‘hell on earth’ and without a change, more people will die under the Trump administration's cruelty towards human life.
Four Rivers Indivisible stated their message is this: "Stop ICE abuse and inhumane detention. Immigrant lives are of value, and immigrants deserve safety, dignity, and respect. We mourn the loss of life in ICE custody, valued loved ones who deserved to return to their families alive, and the families left without answers."
Four Rivers Indivisible member Ann-Meredith McNeill was an active volunteer during this event. She explained what this event meant to her and why she chose to participate, “I participated in this event so our immigrant communities know that people care about the injustices waged against them. Immigrants are seeking a better life for themselves and their families, they should be welcomed and treated with dignity. The cruelty perpetrated against them goes against our constitution and legal precedents, and violates their human rights. I have to take action, even if it's small, to stand up against the racism, hate, and fear that those in power are wielding against vulnerable communities."
ICE is currently operating with unprecedented funding and is now the largest federal law enforcement agency in the US. The Trump administration is ruthlessly pursuing a multi-layered- and multi-million- detention expantion plan, raising the number of people in detention. This explosive growth of immigration detetion comes at the expense of all Americans as people lose health care, food programs, and as families worry over emergency preparedness in response to historic flooding and wildfires across the nation.
Four Rivers Indivisable asks that local media do more reporting on conditions in local jails that are serving as detention facilities for ICE.
Family Service Society Paducah
Photos by: Denver Reece
