Category: Immigration

Pop-up protest draws more than 200

Upcoming workshop will encourage safety at protests
by Leslie Layton | Posted January 20, 2026
Bill Monroe attended the protest with a sign depicting the flag of Greenland. Photo by Leslie Layton

Demonstrators showed up today for the Chico Free America Pop Up Protest, waving anti-Trump signs and telling reporters they will defend democracy, free expression and Constitutional rights.

Between 200 and 300 people attended, lining up on the sidewalks at the corner of Vallombrosa and Mangrove avenues. The event was organized quickly today by the Re-Sisters, the Defenders of Democracy Coalition and Indivisible Chico in coordination with the Free America Walkout that was scheduled to coincide with the one-year anniversary of President Trump’s inauguration. read more

Chico joins nationwide “ICE Out for Good” protests

by Leslie Layton | Posted January 10, 2026
Alan and Diane Silver. Photo by Leslie Layton

Chico protesters showed up today — in concert with anti-ICE rallies underway across the nation — with cardboard and printed signs, with costumes and canes, with walkers and strollers, to express outrage, disgust and anguish over recent shootings.

In the wake of the shooting that killed Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis, more than 1,000 people participated in the Chico protest that first swarmed the entrance to Children’s Park and then spread out to line the Esplanade down to East Washington Avenue. They carried signs denouncing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Trump administration and fascism. read more

Vigil held for Minneapolis woman killed by ICE

by Leslie Layton | Posted January 7, 2026
Megan Windeler at the Jan. 7 vigil. Photo by Leslie Layton

About 35 Chico-area residents gathered at City Plaza this evening in a vigil for Renee Nicole Good, the woman who was killed earlier in the day by an immigration officer in Minneapolis.

The demonstrators gathered with candles and alternately sang and spoke about the need to organize and protest in the wake of the killing by an officer from Immigration, Customs & Enforcement (ICE). Good, who was 37, and according to reports was a U.S. citizen, was driving a maroon-colored SUV when she was approached by officers and then shot. read more

Chico man in detention seeks asylum, relief

Immigrant detention swells to record high
by Leslie Layton | Posted December 29, 2025
Paradise resident Virginia Hauer works relentlessly for Ozan’s release. Photo by Leslie Layton.

Chico criminal defense attorney Kevin Sears remembers that day in late July in Butte County Superior Court when he heard what he describes as “awful screaming” outside the courtroom.

The bailiff told him that agents from Immigration, Customs & Enforcement (ICE) were outside. “I just about fainted,” Sears said. “I just had no clue they were there. It was the first time they had come.”

Sears acts as public defender for Butte County DUI cases, so on any given day he may have up to 50 clients in court. When he learned what was happening outside the courtroom, he thought immediately of one client in particular who had been anxious about ICE courthouse arrests around the state. read more