The Lowcountry Immigration Coalition organized Saturday’s demonstration
By Delayna Earley
The Island News
A march and vigil planned for Saturday afternoon in Beaufort will honor people who have died during immigration detention and enforcement while calling for accountability and an end to local cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The event, organized by the Lowcountry Immigration Coalition, will begin at 4 p.m. July 25 at the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office headquarters, 1501 Bay St. Organizers recently issued an update identifying the Bay Street office as the correct starting location.
The march will begin at 4:30 p.m. Participants will walk to U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace’s Beaufort office at 710 Boundary St., where a vigil is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. The event is expected to conclude at 6 p.m.
Organizers say the peaceful demonstration will commemorate Lorenzo Salgado Araujo and Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, two men recently shot and killed by ICE officers.
Salgado Araujo, a 52-year-old construction business owner and longtime Houston resident, was killed July 7 while driving members of his work crew. The Department of Homeland Security said an officer fired after Salgado Araujo attempted to use his vehicle as a weapon. Passengers have disputed that account in court statements, saying officers were not in the van’s path.
Durán Guerrero, a Colombian immigrant who worked as a delivery driver, was killed July 13 during an attempted vehicle stop in Biddeford, Maine. ICE said he tried to flee and that an officer fired out of concern for public safety. His death has prompted protests and demands for greater transparency.
In addition to seeking accountability for those deaths, the Beaufort demonstrators will call for ICE to leave local communities and for area law-enforcement agencies to withdraw from 287(g) agreements. The federal program allows ICE to authorize designated state and local officers to perform certain immigration-enforcement duties under the agency’s supervision.
The Lowcountry Immigration Coalition is a nonprofit organization that advocates for immigrants in Beaufort and Jasper counties and supports broader immigration reform. Founded in 2010, the coalition says its work includes defending immigrants’ civil rights, opposing discrimination and providing education and resources to Lowcountry families.
A separate demonstration is planned earlier Saturday on Hilton Head Island. Participants will gather from noon to 1 p.m. at the intersection of U.S. 278 and Mathews Drive as part of the national “Justice for Lorenzo and Johan” day of action.
Delayna Earley, who joined The Island News in 2022, formerly worked as a photojournalist for The Island Packet/The Beaufort Gazette, as well as newspapers in Indiana and Virginia. She can be reached at delayna.theislandnews@gmail.com.