Over three days and at three Richmond locations, residents and organizations rallied to support immigrants, oppose the Trump administration and call for community defense.

“The fight is within us all,” Richmond Defensa organizer Violeta Vega said. “The fight is in the streets, and that’s where we’re going to stay.” 

Vega was one of several speakers from groups such as RVA Indivisible and the Party for Socialism and Liberation who addressed a crowd of about 100 people at Kanawha Plaza on Tuesday. 

The rally marked the first anniversary of Trump’s second inauguration and was one of many student and worker walkouts nationwide. 

Speakers at the event condemned recent fatal shootings and deportations carried out by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, criticized U.S. foreign intervention in Venezuela and highlighted broader systemic issues in American policy. 

Similar criticisms were made Sunday during a rally in Monroe Park organized by the Virginia Defenders for Freedom, Justice and Equality and Virginia Immigrants for Life, Liberation, Autonomy and Solidarity. 

“Today, we are here to denounce the abductions that are happening,” the Defenders’ Immigrant Support Committee leader Fern Diaz-Castro said as she addressed the crowd in the pouring rain. “They are kidnapping our people throughout the country and right here in our city.” 

The rally was organized in response to reports of increased ICE presence in the Richmond area. 

While all three rallies called for action, RVA Indivisible’s Martin Luther King Day Vigil for Peace at the Virginia War Memorial on Monday also honored those lost and urged the community to follow King’s example. 

“We gather today in the spirit of Dr. King, who taught us that peace is not passive,” ACLU of Virginia Executive Director Mary Bauer said. “Peace requires justice, and justice requires accountability.” 

Speakers at all three events urged Virginia leaders to take stronger action on ICE and federal immigration policies. They acknowledged Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s executive order ending Virginia’s collaboration with ICE but said further steps were needed. 

“That was a great first step, but it’s not enough,” Bauer said. “We need courage from all of us and at every level of our government.” 

Speakers at the events called for bans on local and state cooperation with federal immigration enforcement, for Virginia to be declared a sanctuary state and for Richmond to avoid new contracts with surveillance companies such as Flock Safety. They also urged organizing, Know Your Rights training, collaboration to respond to ICE activity and, in some cases, a general strike.