Community members and advocates gathered outside the Oklahoma County jail Thursday night for a candlelight vigil honoring people who have died while in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody.
As the sun set, organizers passed out candles in small plastic cups. A local reverend led the group in prayer and in song. People lifted their arms and their voices melted together for the lyrics of "This Little Light of Mine."
The American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma hosted the event as part of the Disappeared in America Weekend of Action, a nationwide effort that took place during the first two days of November. People across the country organized at detention centers, jails and courthouses to call attention to the human cost of recent immigration crackdowns.
Nicole Maldonado, the organizing manager for the Oklahoma chapter of the ACLU, said they chose to hold the vigil outside of the Oklahoma County Detention Center because the facility operates as a short-term detainment location.
"No immigrant, no person, just for wanting to work hard, for dreaming of a better life and for seeking opportunities, [should] have to die in custody," Maldonado said. "It's not fair. It's cruel and inhumane."
District 1 Oklahoma County Commissioner Jason Lowe, who spoke at the event, said he wants to see people mobilize across the state.
"This is not only happening in Oklahoma County," Lowe said. "This is also happening in Ardmore, this is happening in Altus, throughout the entire state. And what we have to do is organize and we have to get ready for the midterm elections."
Lowe has previously spoken out about the conditions in the jail, which has gained notoriety for understaffing and safety concerns. He said many of his family members are immigrants, and recent immigration enforcement practices clash with due process rights.
"People are being arrested for not even committing a crime, they are being arrested for how they look, how they speak," Lowe said.
ICE presence isn't new at the Oklahoma County jail, which can detain people for ICE under a 2007 state statute. Agents have been on site since 2015.
But in Oklahoma, local immigration detentions have increased by nearly 200% in 2025 compared to the previous two years, mostly in Tulsa and Oklahoma City.
As of July of this year, 1,994 people have been arrested, booked into one of 88 different local detention centers across Oklahoma and flagged either for or by ICE for deportation, according to an analysis of federal data by KOSU. The majority have no prior criminal history or have pending criminal charges, which can range from traffic offenses to more serious crimes.
"We need to fight back and show resistance and unity," Maldonado told the crowd.
Poster boards with the names of 25 people believed to have died while in custody this year lined a table set up to face the jail. Their age, the country where they were born and the state where they died were listed. An analysis from NPR confirmed at least 20 of those deaths, marking the deadliest year for people in ICE custody in decades. Organizers said six of the deaths took place in October alone.
Under the Trump administration, immigration enforcement has ramped up across the country and throughout Oklahoma.
Local law enforcement agencies have been emboldened to question and detain people through the revitalization of 287g contracts, which allow police to collaborate with ICE. Such partnerships more than doubled during the first months of Trump's current term, according to an analysis by nonprofit data newsroom The Markup. In Oklahoma, 21 different agencies have elected to participate.
The state is also reopening once-shuttered private prisons owned by CoreCivic to act as detention centers. The prison management company has already inked deals to use its Cimarron Correctional Facility in Cushing and Diamondback Correctional Facility in Watonga to house detained migrants.
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