ALMA co-founder speaks at anti-ICE rally

Carolina Apachicana Castoreno, co-founder of ALMA, the Alliance for Latino Migrant Advocacy, speaking outside Gainbridge Fieldhouse at the “Stop the raids” rally before the June 11 Pacers game.

The video was posted by The Bloomingtonian on June 12, 2025. A lightly edited version of the transcript is below. You can find photos of the demonstration here and the Mirror Indy coverage here.

Anti-ICE demonstrators protest before NBA Finals

Transcript

Thank you. I’m Carolina and I am the co-founder of ALMA, the Alliance for Latino Migrant Advocacy. We have been pushing back against ICE in our community and we have been hosting resource events for immigrant families. Please make sure you are following us on all of our socials. If you need notary services, if you need connections to immigration attorneys, if you need to know who to connect with in your community, who is safe.

But right, now what I want to do is I want to point out hypocrisy for the people who are judging the protesters in LA number one carry whatever flag you want because the people who are judging you carry Israeli flags in this country on a daily basis.

For the people who are demanding peaceful protests tell that to the police and ICE who are the aggressors against the protesters. For the people who are saying they just want violent criminals gone remind them that American-born citizens commit violent crimes 60% more than foreign-born people. For the people who say that cities with high immigrant populations have high violent crime rates remind them that Oklahoma City has a higher violent crime rate than Philadelphia, which has more immigrants. For the people who say that we don’t care about our city remind them that we are out here protecting Indiana Hoosiers, undocumented Hoosiers here and right after this we’re going to watch the Pacers beat the Thunder.

All right, let me chill, let me chill. All right, so what I do want to talk about is that there is a lot of hypocrisy when it comes to talking about what is legal and what is not. And as an indigenous woman I can sit here and tell you like I do at every rally, like at every rally, that we are on stolen land. And that the original invaders are those who are currently making the laws against immigrants. But we already know this, so let’s talk about what’s going on right now. We are currently living in a fascist, authoritarian regime. This is not hyperbole. Do not let anyone gaslight you. This is the literal definition of fascism and we are living in a constitutional crisis. But my message is going to be about community. I also need to remind all of those who are out here that nobody from any other community owes us a damn thing if people from other communities are showing up for us, which we clearly are.

We have people from every community in Indianapolis tonight, but they are doing that of their own free will. We do not shame anyone to showing up advocacy activism and allyship is not transactional. Thank you.

So I do want to say this though. This is beautiful what we do when we’re able to congregate and show solidarity with everyone and come out and protest against these forces that are oppressing us all. But I need you all to go beyond shouting outside of the buildings. I need you at the ballot box. I need you at the state house. I need you running for office. We are not going to change anything at the federal level unless we start at the local level okay? So please remember that.

This is something very important to remember, though. I’m going to give you some more facts right now. A lot of people try to say that people just need to come here legally these same people are supporting the policies that have been destabilizing Latin American and African countries for the better half of the 20th Century and the 21st. We cannot tell people to go come the legal way when we remove the refugee and asylum programs and TPS status. We cannot tell people to come the legal way when we look at the refusal rate for visas the refusal rate for people from countries in Latin America and Africa sit around 50% or more, and the refusal rate from European nations is less than 10 %. Do not tell us that the immigration system is not biased okay? Thank you.

So, I want to leave you on this note. Again, I’m going to reiterate that we cannot rely on anyone else. My rallying cry at every ALMA event is that community shows up for community. There is no one coming to save us. There is no politician that is going to save us. There is no other community that is going to save us. You have to show up for yourselves and if you are citizens you need to be using that privilege of citizenship to stand up for your undocumented brothers and sisters in our community. If you see ICE or police you engage with them and you allow your fellow, your undocumented family members to get away. You put yourselves on the front line. I don’t want an ally, I want an accomplice make their job harder make their job harder.

If you need resources please reach out to ALMA, please reach out to the Immigrant Welcome Center, please reach out to Exodus. You need to know who you can trust in this community and for the elites in the Latino community, because even though this is not just a Latino issue, I want to send this message loud and clear to the elite Latinos in Indiana who have not said a damn thing in support of our community. I want to say it to the Latino influencers who make money off of us on a daily basis and have not wanted to disrupt their platform.

If you’re if you are silent, you are complacent, you are taking the side of the oppressor. So I don’t want to see you doing anything in our communities looking for attention. I don’t want to see you promoting any of your events in our communities. I want to hear what the you are going to do to support the most vulnerable in our society, which are the undocumented. All right, y’all, I’mma hop off my soap box. I’m going to go watch the Pacers win, but I’m still here okay? And that’s the thing: do not ever let them tell you we don’t love our city not for nothing baby!

Featured photo: Protesters take the streets during the rally. Credit: Indianapolis Liberation Center.