Despite rain, community members turn out to rally in support of immigrants

QuickTake:

About 75 people gathered on the Ferry Street Bridge in Eugene in the afternoon, with about that many congregating in front of Springfield City Hall in the evening, to protest federal immigration actions.

Community members donned rain coats and plastic ponchos, and some carried umbrellas as they gathered in front of Springfield City Hall for a rally and vigil to support immigrants Thursday evening, Dec. 18.

Kriscia Rivas, 29, who said she has lived in Springfield her whole life, started off the rally with a speech before handing the microphone to others.

“Immigrants are not only your surgeons, your pharmacists, your lawyers, your secretaries, your engineers, your farmworkers, your baristas, your educators, your nurses,” said Rivas, who is the daughter of Latino immigrants. “Immigrants are humans with rights, and those rights are being taken away right now, and that needs to change.”

The event was part of “Day Without an Immigrant” demonstrations happening across the state. 

Springfield resident Kriscia Rivas speaks to a crowd at Springfield City Hall on Dec. 18, 2025, during a “Day Without an Immigrant” rally. Credit: Lillian Schrock-Clevenger / Lookout Eugene-Springfield

Rivas said the gathering was part of a series of events initiated by Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste, Oregon’s farmworkers union, to protest “the Trump administration’s unlawful attacks on immigrant communities.” 

Rivas said organizers will have monthly actions until May 1, and on each of those days will abstain from work, school and shopping “to demonstrate the essential role immigrants play in Oregon and across the nation and the economy and the power that comes with that.”

Rivas led the group of about 75 people, many of them holding LED candles, in a moment of silence for community members who had been detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 

Community members gather for a rally and vigil in front of Springfield City Hall. Credit: Lillian Schrock-Clevenger / Lookout Eugene-Springfield

Johanis Tadeo, 31, took the stage, saying, “Tonight, we hold candles for our people, for our families, for our neighbors, for the ones that were taken from the communities like ours, for the ones who never made it home, for the families living with the kind of fear that changes you.”

Tadeo repeated requests that he and other community members delivered to the Springfield City Council earlier this month, including declaring a state of emergency and creating a fund for families affected by ICE. He also asked that the Springfield police chief make a public statement that the department will not cooperate with ICE.

“To the mayor, to the City Council: I’m not here to ask politely anymore,” said Tadeo, who lives in Springfield. “This is something you should have done on your own, because when your residents are living in fear, silence is not neutral. Silence becomes part of the harm. We should not have to beg our own city to say, ‘We stand with you.’”

Earlier in the day, about 50 to 100 demonstrators took to the Ferry Street Bridge in Eugene to demonstrate for “Day Without an Immigrant.” Megaphone chants were audible, along with a chorus of steady supportive car horns.

Demonstrators hold signs along the Ferry Street Bridge during a “Day Without an Immigrant” rally in Eugene, Dec. 18, 2025. Credit: Isaac Wasserman / Lookout Eugene-Springfield / Catchlight / RFA

“We are all immigrants,” said Barbara Stebbins, 75, who leaned over the railing holding a bright orange sign. 

Demonstrators were heard chanting: “No fear, no hate, no ICE in our state.”

Photojournalist Isaac Wasserman contributed to this article.