Local activists join weekend ‘ICE Out for Good’ protests
January 11, 2026 | By Lisa Scagliotti People hold signs during a peaceful ‘ICE Out for Good’ demonstration along Vermont Route 100 in Waitsfield early Saturday morning. Courtesy photo
About a dozen demonstrations were held around Vermont this weekend to protest recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions across the United States, including an early-morning rally in Waitsfield.
On Wednesday, 37-year-old Renee Nicole Macklin Good, a U.S. citizen, was fatally shot by an ICE agent in Minneapolis, Minnesota. On Thursday, Jan. 8, a U.S. Border Patrol agent shot and injured a man and a woman identified as Venezuelan citizens in Portland, Oregon. The incidents have touched off widespread demonstrations in Minnesota and in cities and towns across the U.S.
In Waitsfield on Saturday. Courtesy photo
In Vermont, peaceful marches and protests have been held since Good’s death, starting in Burlington on Thursday. On Saturday, protests organized by Indivisible and 50501 grassroots groups took place in around the state, including in St. Albans, Fairfax, St. Johnsbury, Bennington, Rutland, and Montpelier, where several hundred demonstrators gathered at the State House.
The “ICE Out for Good” rallies call for an end to the deployment of ICE agents in U.S. cities, citing the victim of the Minneapolis fatal shooting.
The Waitsfield event took place shortly after dawn on Saturday along Vermont Route 100. Organizers Judi Daly and Karen Cingiser with the Indivisible Mad River Valley group said more than 100 people turned out, starting at 7:30 a.m. “to peacefully protest the reckless and lawless actions of ICE in Minneapolis and elsewhere.”
Indivisible Mad River is planning its next rally for Monday, Jan. 19, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Mad River Green in Waitsfield. The Martin Luther King Day Call to Defend Democracy will be a joint event coordinated with Indivisible Calais and Indivisible Montpelier groups.
“This will be a peaceful protest, and all are encouraged to bring signs, good energy and spirit,” said Callie Willis, a volunteer organizer for the event.
Photos below are courtesy of Indivisible Mad River Valley. Click to enlarge.
