AMHERST — Lucia Montalvo stood outside the Police Department Thursday holding a sign, one of hundreds who gathered downtown days after a man was fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in Maine. Their message: They’re done with ICE.

“I’m here for justice for ICE victims and their families,” Montalvo said in an interview while holding a sign on the street protesting ICE.

Gatherings demanding for the abolition of ICE, like the rally-protest blend at Sweetser Park, have become a common occurrence in the Pioneer Valley and across the country during President Donald Trump’s second term in the Oval Office, and as immigration enforcement rises.

Three people have died this month from ICE encounters, including two this week. The man killed by an ICE agent in Biddeford, Maine Monday was Colombian international Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, 25, the 10th reported death from an ICE encounter during Trump’s second term, according to the Associated Press.

A man was fatally hit by a tractor trailer fleeing ICE officers in Florida on Tuesday, and Mexican international, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, was fatally shot attempting to evade an arrest in Houston on July 7.

Valley residents on Thursday, including District 1 Councilor Jill Brevik, sang songs, recited amendments from the U.S. Constitution and condemned ICE.

“I am outraged, and nothing I can say right now could possibly be enough for this moment,” Brevik said through a bullhorn. “Each individual story that I hear of the lives that have been lost, that have been ruined by ICE, is absolutely heartbreaking.”

Brevik claimed there have been more than 50 deaths caused by ICE in the past 18 months, referencing the three deaths that have occurred this month. While ICE was the main target of the gathering, many commented about the United States as a whole. Brevik, for example, said current ICE crimes are modeled on “hundreds of years” of “tyrannical oppression of people of color.”

Brevik works with Valley Families for Palestine and the River Valley Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), two of the groups involved in organizing Thursday’s gathering. Others included the LUCE Immigrant Justice Network, Free Speech for People, Amherst for the People and Amherst for Palestine, according to Brevik.

While the state and federal government are often called on by the opposition to take more action to abolish ICE, Brevik turned her focus to the local Amherst Police Department. Brevik said in an interview that there are currently intentions to revise Amherst’s Sanctuary Community bylaw to further restrict ICE abilities in town. Brevik also called on state leaders who she said “refuse” to help end ICE’s 287(g) agreement, which allows nonfederal law enforcement agencies to partner with them.

“Our local police have stated that they will not intervene to stop illegal ICE activity if it were to happen on our streets under their watch,” Brevik said, a statement that was met by calls of “boo” and “shame.”

She continued, “If what happened in Houston happened in Amherst, if what happened in Biddeford happened in Amherst, what would our local police do? I will not stop asking these questions and continue to hold our town leaders, our local leaders accountable.”

Town Manager Paul Bockelman and Police Chief Gabriel Ting have previously told the Gazette they will not physically intervene in ICE operations as they occur, saying it could expose the town to legal liability if a municipal employee attempted to stop a federal immigration enforcement action in progress.

Adrien Rescia, co-chair of River Valley DSA, said she flew to Louisiana last summer to protest at ICE facilities. Rescia said systems have always been in place in the U.S. that targeted people of color, and the current actions are no different.

“We are watching this system crash and burn, and it’s not as important that we are making a bunch of noise today … it is that we continue to work on this after today to see a system in place that isn’t intended to harm the working class,” Rescia said. “It is time that we stand together and demand an end to ICE.”

Toward the end of the gathering, Amherst Hip Hop Artist Tem Blessed rapped a song he authored about the history of racism in the United States: “Take out police brutality like apartheid, in this long walk, we march with Mandela, Dr. King and Selma through the Mississippi Delta … We march non-violently, coped by the words of Gandhi. Break these chains of racism.”

Material from the Associated Press was used in this article.