On Nov. 5, Immigration Customs Enforcement agents threw Juanita Avila to the ground, temporarily detaining her despite her daughter Emely Agustin pleading with the agents that Avila was a legal resident.

A crowd of over 150 people gathered in Coiner Park for a candlelight vigil in support of immigrants amid recent ICE activity in Cottage Grove. The Rural Organizing Project, a statewide multi-issue and rural focused political group organized the vigil, where multiple speakers, including Rep. Val Hoyle, with Avila and Agustin, spoke out against ICE activity.

Avila, who runs a local Latino convenience store in downtown Cottage Grove, is a permanent legal resident of the United States and a valid “green card” holder.

“It was racial profiling,” Agustin said to the crowd. “They looked at her

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