Alex Pretti and Renee Good are well-known as people shot and killed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents 17 days apart in January in Minnesota, but they are not alone among people who have been killed by ICE agents or died in the agency’s custody.
Those 111 people may only be known to their families or a small circle of friends, but students at Cristo Rey St. Martin College Prep in Waukegan are learning more about them. A wooden cross bearing the name, date of death, age, and ancestral homeland of each person was on display this week at the school.
Arriving at Cristo Rey on Monday, the Immigrant Crosses were scheduled to be there through Friday as they made their way to different locations in the Chicago area. Cristo Rey is the only stop in Lake County. They were on display in the school’s chapel.
Fatima, a Cristo Rey senior — whose only first name was used as per school policy — was one of the students helping to organize cross-related activities through their theology class. She said it was an emotional experience accentuated by the fear in the community as it experienced during Operation Midway Blitz a year ago. Prayers were said for the victims.
“We hope their soul finds peace in eternity and their loved ones are able to find peace,” Fatima said. “One woman was murdered when she was only 24. She never had a baby or kids. You feel sad her life was taken away so young.”
The Cristo Rey community spent time learning about the people whose names are on the Immigrant Crosses this week on their Waukegan campus, spreading awareness of lives lost through the federal government’s ongoing immigration enforcement efforts.
Viatorian Brother Michael Gosch is also a member of Sisters and Brothers of Immigrants, one of the sponsoring organizations of the Immigrant Crosses project. SBI partnered with Priests for Justice and Immigrants to bring awareness to the harsh treatment of immigrants.
“This is a response to what’s going on in the country with the sweeps of ICE, the people killed by ICE or were apprehended by ICE and died in their custody for lack of medical care,” Gosch said. “This is a way to support families who might be experiencing apprehension about what’s taking place in our country.”
Starting at the Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago on Sept. 24, the Immigrant Crosses have made their way to a number of parishes and schools in the Chicago area. They were handmade and painted by members of the Laborers’ International Union of North America.
Fatima and Daniel, another Cristo Rey senior, said they were very familiar with ICE and other immigrant enforcement activities they and their families experienced between Sept. 8 and Nov. 10 of last year when 77 people were apprehended in the area as part of Operation Midway Blitz.
“Our family made a plan right after (President Donald) Trump was elected,” Daniel, the son of Mexican immigrants, said, indicating everyone in the family is an American citizen. “We could feel it everywhere around us. It changed a lot of how we did things.”
Fatima, the granddaughter of immigrants from Mexico, said everyone in her family is also a citizen, but they were still careful. Friends and neighbors have been afraid to leave their homes. Community members have helped each other, she said.
Fatima said the project is a way to make people aware of both what happened and could occur in the future. An open house Friday for the school community was an opportunity to spread the word.
“We want to increase awareness in the community and help others understand what is happening,” she said. “We want to make sure people realize what happened when they see the crosses.”
Jim Dippold, Cristo Rey’s director of campus ministry, said that although the community is aware of the immigration enforcement actions that started in January of 2025, the situation began before then and when it will end is uncertain.
“The Immigrant Crosses are about a general awareness of what is happening in the new era of ICE,” Dippold said. “There is a lot of cruelty going on. A lot of people have been harmed.”
Cristo Rey Campus Minister Iris Sanchez is helping the students with the Immigrant Crosses project. She works with them in their theology class and outside of it to help them comprehend the meaning of effort.
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“The word in Spanish is ‘despedida,’” Sanchez said. “It means wishing someone a farewell. That’s what we’re doing for the names on the crosses.”