For the most part, the signs came and went quickly.
But it was the photographs taken shortly after their placement, in the dark of night, with the street names affixed, that stood as a more permanent tribute, shared across social media in South Orange and Maplewood, NJ.
Two local activists, working with a list of addresses compiled through an informal South Orange-Maplewood rapid response chat group, created the signs which read, “ICE kidnapped a community member here,” and placed them around the towns last week in spots were people had been arrested by federal agents, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
In an interview earlier this week, the artist and her helper discussed what they hoped to accomplish with the signs. Village Green is withholding their names at their request.
“I actually was approached by a friend who had reached out to me because I’m an artist in town and an activist in town,” said the artist. “And she had this idea because it’s just relentless, the people being taken. She had an idea that we should create a sort of memorial, kind of like the ghost bikes in New York City. So that it’s not that people are just taken and then forgotten. Then I saw similar signs that people were creating in Minneapolis and different places.”
“And so I just went with it,” she said, working from the map provided by a member of the rapid response group chat.
Another activist jumped in to help hang the signs and photograph them.
“She’s my collaborator,” said the artist.
Marking the spot
The locations where the signs were placed match addresses reported in Village Green’s coverage of ICE arrests, including here, here, here, here, here and here — as well as on Springfield Avenue and Colgate Street, where three men were arrested by federal agents while working on a sidewalk contract for the Township on October 1.
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson has only sporadically responded to Village Green’s requests for information regarding the arrests. Of those that Village Green has been able to identify via DHS and local immigrant support groups, many have no criminal record and also have legal status or are following the legal process to obtain such status. Recently, several men arrested in SOMA have been released on bond after attorneys, paid for through the local immigrant support group SOMA Community Cares, filed writs of habeas corpus on their behalf.
RELATED: ICE Took a Tax-Paying South Orange Resident With No Criminal Record—It’s Not Uncommon, Says Attorney
Federal agents have arrived at the scene of arrests in South Orange and Maplewood — as in other communities — driving unmarked vehicles, wearing masks, and displaying no badges. During an arrest at Revere and Prospect in Maplewood on September 1, 2026, agents apparently used databases to look up the names of bystanders — via home addresses and license plates — and then called them out by name on a loudspeaker. A former DHS employee told Village Green this is a violation of DHS policy and the law. (The man arrested during this incident posted bond and was released from detention six days later.)
RELATED: ICE Agents Use Intimidation Tactics on Bystanders During Arrest in Maplewood
“We went back and forth using that word ‘kidnapped’,” said the artist. “But it is kidnapping. If you look up what kidnapping is, this is kidnapping.”
“I want to remind people that this is happening in your community,” she added. “This is not abstract. This is not happening in Minneapolis and LA. This is here. And it’s your gardener and your house painter and your roofer and your cook and your friend and your community member. And I want people to walk past these signs and not be allowed to forget that this is happening. We have this lovely, progressive, idyllic town. And I think we can kind of close our eyes, especially if we’re not immigrants. We just wanted something to say, “No, this is here. This is happening. This is not theoretical. This is not something that people are reading in the newspaper. It’s happening right here in Maplewood.'”
Although most, if not all of the signs, have been taken down, the activists say more actions are coming.
“It is ephemeral and maybe all the signs by now have been taken down,” said the other activist. “Part of why we want to do more is to say, ‘You can take it down, but we’re gonna put it back up or do something else.'”
