Concerned Americans are Bearings Witness to ICE cruelty and their peaceful advocacy must put an end to the Trump reign of terror

Echo opinion letter published in the Boston Globe - sad 😟

On January 7, 2026, my husband and I joined others who traveled by bus, car, or bike in the freezing rain to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in Burlington. 

We came as part of Bearing Witness (to observe firsthand), a weekly peaceful protest calling for an end to the kidnapping and detention of our immigrant neighbors. The nondescript ICE facility sits amid suburban America — a drab office building used for hearings and detentions, in plain sight of the Burlington Mall and the Lahey Hospital and Medical Center. Those detained endure harsh conditions. Those who attend their scheduled hearings risk detention and deportation. Those who do not appear risk losing their immigration status.

Part of the reason we protest ICE is our daughter. In June she joined a protest outside the ICE facility in another city where there has been active resistance against ICE. An officer tackled her, yanked her arm behind her back, and broke her humerus with a snap. We are relieved she has healed. We are proud of her activism. We cannot be silent.

While we waved our signs in front of the Burlington ICE facility, we watched in horror as car transport trailers delivered a fleet of white Ford Broncos to the parking lot behind the facility. It appears that detentions may be about to ramp up in our region. Once we returned home, we were shocked to learn that Renee Nicole Good was killed that morning by an ICE agent in Minneapolis.

The time has come. I urge people to speak out against the cruelty and oppression of this administration and to find ways to peacefully protest. I wish protesters and immigrants alike safety from harm.

From Janet Fritz in Carlisle, Massachusetts