FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 31, 2026
Community Organizations Host Vigil Calling for an End to Local ICE Presence and Investment in Peoples Needs
Vigil participants demand, “Hospitals in, ICE out! Housing in, ICE out!”
Upper Darby, PA. On Friday January 30th from 4:30 to 5:30 pm, community members and local organizations gathered in Upper Darby for a peaceful community vigil and protest in solidarity with migrants and immigrant communities, and to condemn the escalating violence by ICE and Border Patrol nationwide. Despite the coldest temperatures in years, over 100 residents joined together to demand, “Hospitals in! ICE out! Healthcare in! ICE out! Housing in! ICE out!”
Photo of Gabriela Castañeda, MILPA leader. Photo courtesy of Ray Bailey.
The vigil was hosted by MILPA (Movement of Immigrant Leaders in PA), and co-sponsored by Put People First! PA, H-CAN (Havertown-Community Action Network), Philadelphia Homeless Union, a local food bank and other Delaware County organizations. Various elected officials were in attendance as well.
The vigil highlighted broader attacks on working-class families, including hospital closures in Upper Darby, national cuts to Medicaid and SNAP, and the ongoing lack of access to affordable healthcare in contrast to the ballooning budget of immigration enforcement and detention along with the increased criminalization of the homeless.
Desiree Murphy Morrissey from Murphy’s Giving Market, a food bank in Upper Darby, spoke on how the cuts to SNAP are impacting community members and called on officials to support funding for such programs.
Photo of Robin Stephens, Put People First! PA Leader. Photo courtesy of Ray Bailey.
Robin Stephens, a leader with Put People First! PA, shared about the organization’s fight for the past several years against medicaid cuts and the Crozer hospital closures. She remarked, “They want us to believe immigrants are the source of our problems. I’m here to say clearly: No immigrant took away my granddaughter’s medicaid. No immigrant shut down my hospital. Profiteering private equity shut down our hospitals! The state has chosen for decades now to fund militarism, detention and deportation instead of healthcare. [The government is] taking away our Medicaid!”
Photo of Kenneth Blackwell, Philadelphia Homeless Union leader. Photo courtesy of Ray Bailey.
The local chapter of the National Union of the Homeless brought handwarmers and hot drinks to combat the freezing temperatures and connected the right to housing to the struggles of the immigrant community. Kenneth Blackwell of the Philadelphia Homeless Union said, “We reject a narrative that tells us that the circumstances under which someone has to leave a home or loses a home is a reason for them to be denied access to care and services. We reject a narrative that says there is not enough care and resources to go around. Instead, we stand in solidarity against the system that creates poverty. We stand in solidarity against the system that says the papers you have on you proving your identity are a requirement to be treated as a human human being, to be treated with love and respect and compassion.”
Participants demanded an end to the criminalization of immigrant communities, including ICE out of our communities, for Congress to stop allocating additional funding to ICE and to pass immigration reform with pathways to citizenship for families and workers across the country who are targeted with deportation daily. Community members also call on Governor Shapiro to end all state support and collaboration with the on-going mass deportation campaign and to support efforts that support immigrant families workers like expanding access to driver’s licenses and funding universal legal representation.
The vigil mourned the deaths of Nicole Renee Good, Alex Pretti, Upper Darby’s Parady La and the many others, whose deaths are tied to ICE.
MILPA and the other community organizations came together to urge all neighbors, families, and allies to stand together against the attacks on our communities. MILPA leader Desi Burnette exclaimed, “Now is the time to unite for dignity, justice, and care over cruelty. When we stand together, we are stronger.”
Photo of community members. One sign reads, “Drivers Licenses in! ICE OUT!” Photo courtesy of Ray Bailey.
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- Actions, hospitals, housing, Press, Southeast PA, Statements
- crozer, delaware county, delco, ICE OUT, medicaid, nonviolent medicaid army