Vigil at GEO ICE Detention Center in Aurora Spreads Love to Immigrants
Aurora, CO — On the evening of February 10, community members gathered for a vigil outside the for-profit GEO ICE Detention Center in Aurora, Colorado “to honor and spread love to immigrants” inside the facility. The event is called “Love Knows No Borders! No Walls!” and it’s been an annual tradition for nearly two decades coinciding with Valentine’s Day.
Unicorn Riot provided live coverage of the vigil, which you can watch below. (YouTube)
A handful of people spoke during the vigil, including Pablo whose wife is inside the ICE facility. He got on a video call with her and showed her the crowd of around 100 who were gathered only a few hundred feet away from the building.
Jennifer Piper of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), one of the organizations hosting the vigil, mentioned how AFSC is part of the campaign “to close GEO and transform this space.” In coordination with Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition and Colorado People’s Alliance, AFSC has a petition to close the detention center and demand action from Colorado legislators and the United States Congress.
“GEO makes money by incarcerating people, including asylum seekers and individuals seeking immigration relief in our own community. This for-profit company generates over $40 million annually from taxpayer funds.”
Petition to close the GEO ICE facility
At one point during the vigil, paper monarch butterflies were passed out, each representing an immigrant who passed away either in a detention center or while migrating. Each person holding a butterfly was asked to say aloud the name written on their butterfly, and the entire crowd followed by saying, “¡Presente!”
Jordan Garcia with AFSC spoke about bills moving through the state and federal legislatures. HB25-1153 is a “language access bill which would make languages more fair and represented at the state capitol.” Another state bill that Garcia mentioned, which hasn’t been introduced yet, is intended to “re-instate some of the safe spaces throughout the state such as churches, schools, places where people can receive medical care, and gatherings such as this one.” At the federal level, the Protecting Sensitive Locations Act was introduced on Feb. 10, 2025 by 21 senators including CO U.S. Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper. The bill “would re-instate sanctuary-type spaces throughout the country.”
Throughout the vigil, the music project No Enemies, founded by Jamie Laurie and Stephan Brackett of Denver-based alternative hip hop band Flobots, performed songs where crowd participation was encouraged. Even though the temperature was dipping into the 20s, the musicians continued playing their metal instruments.
Unicorn Riot’s covered the annual vigil during previous years — in 2017 and 2018.
Unicorn Riot's Coverage of the Sanctuary Movement and U.S. Immigration:
- Coloradans Rally at State Capitol to Support Immigrants and Protest Mass Deportations (February 8, 2025)
- University of Utah Students Protest Against ICE and Police on Campus (February 6, 2025)
- Calls For a Migrant Labor Strike Grow on Social Media (December 28, 2024)
- ICE is Training Civilians to Conduct Violent Raids on Immigrants (October 31, 2024)
- Nearly 100 Migrant Families Evicted from Aurora, CO ‘Slumlord’ Apartments (August 13, 2024)
- Dozens of Migrant Families Face Eviction in Aurora, CO with Less Than One Week’s Notice (August 8, 2024)
- Protests Erupt Across Florida as Senate Bill 1718 Goes Into Effect (July 2, 2023)
- Protests Against Anti-Immigrant Laws to Continue (June 25, 2023)
- Minnesota ‘Driver’s Licenses For All’ Bill a National Model For Data Privacy Protections, Advocates Say (April 20, 2023)
- Eugenics, Border Wars & Population Control: The Tanton Network (August 22, 2022)
- Reports of Forced Sterilizations in ICE Facility Spark Protest (September 22, 2020)
- GEO Group’s ICE Jail Lies to Immigration Lawyer, Attempts Unlawful Deportation (July 2, 2020)
- Racial Justice Teach-in at Abolish ICE Camp in Aurora CO (June 13, 2020)
- Another Immigrant Claims Sanctuary from Deportation in Colorado (Feb. 14, 2020)
- Immigrant Rights Advocates Rally in Response to Rotten Food Given to Detainees (Jan. 6, 2020)
- Ingrid Encalada Latorre Pardoned After 2+ Years Claiming Sanctuary (Dec. 28, 2019)
- The Price to Oversee ICE: 200+ Protesters March in Aurora Suburb Home to GEO Group ICE Warden (Sep. 30, 2019)
- Twin Cities Jewish Community Blockades ICE Building, 27 Cited (Aug. 2, 2019)
- Passions Run High at ‘Close the Concentration Camps’ Protest (July 22, 2019)
- Hundreds in CO Plan Rally to ‘Close the Concentration Camps’ (July 12, 2019)
- Thousands March in Minneapolis to Stop Separating Families (June 30, 2019)
- Jeanette Vizguerra’s U-Visa Denied While in Sanctuary Second Time (June 27, 2019)
- CO Community Gathers Outside GEO ICE Facility on Longest Day of Year (June 21, 2019)
- Occupy ICE Denver Camps Outside GEO ICE Detention Center (Oct. 29, 2018)
- #OccupyICE Movement Grows Momentum in Colorado (Aug. 6, 2018)
- ICE Occupation Emerges at Denver Field Office (July 30, 2018)
- Philadelphia Reduces Police Help To ICE; ‘Occupy ICE’ Camp Moves (July 30, 2018)
- Protesters Occupy Philadelphia ICE Office (July 2, 2018)
- Protests Target ICE Contractor General Dynamics (June 29, 2018)
- Ninth Annual CO Love Knows No Borders, No Walls Vigil (Feb. 5, 2018)
- November Vigil at GEO Group ICE Detention Center in CO (Nov. 6, 2017)
- Ingrid Encalada Latorre Returns to Sanctuary; Four Claim Sanctuary in CO (Oct. 27, 2017)
- Ingrid Encalada Latorre Leaves Sanctuary After Six Months; Granted Temporary Stay (May 27, 2017)
- Indonesian Undocumented Immigrant Detained at ICE Check-In (May 24, 2017)
- Jeanette Vizguerra, Among Others, Celebrate Victories Against ICE Deportation Attempts (May 17, 2017)
- Sanctuary Movement Leader, Arturo Hernandez Garcia, Detained by ICE While at Work (April 30, 2017)
- Jeanette Vizguerra Named One of Time’s 100 Most Influential People as She Remains in Sanctuary (April 22, 2017)
- Crisis: Borderlands (March 14, 2017)
- Arizona Anti-ICE Demo Meets Arrests and Chemical Agents (Feb. 17, 2017)
- Deportations Begin Under Trump’s Regime (Feb. 14, 2017)
- Love Knows No BAN No Walls Vigil at GEO ICE Detention Center (Feb. 8, 2017)
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