College students protest Trump deportation plans

The protest on Wednesday was student-organized, in accordance with the Movimiento Cosecha’s (Cosecha Movement) #Sanctuary Campus. UO also said it would not share immigration status with the federal government unless “required by court order”.

“Sanctuary cities matter in this country”, Brackeen said at the Yale protest.

“The Democrats are trying to make Donald Trump a legitimate candidate which he is not”, Diaz said, referring to Trump’s nationalist policies, which she referred to as fascist.

This is the text of a petition a group of students plans to deliver to President Smith during the walkout at noon today. Others ask for more specific measures, such as guarantees that the school won’t release information on students’ immigration status and that university police forces won’t team up with the feds in deportation raids. In line with his proposed stringent immigration policy, President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to go after these sanctuary cities, of which MA boasts six. The students also demanded that the university increase its acceptance of undocumented students and provide them with financial aid.

“It’s not easy to be a non-white, non-Christian, non-straight person in this country”, Reliford said.

“We are alarmed at the vitriol that students and community members are experiencing across the United States in the aftermath of the recent election”.

ASG President Christina Cilento said she and Executive Vice President Macs Vinson will meet with vice president for student affairs Patricia Telles-Irvin on Thursday to discuss the possibility of NU becoming a sanctuary campus.

Echoing Ballantyne, Stanford Asian American Activism Committee member Yeji Jung outlined the demands of this action.

Additionally, we request that the college commit to ongoing dialogue with the students about additions to the college policy and support for community efforts that protect immigrants who study, live, and work at the college and their families and the community. “This means undocumented, Jewish, Latinx, Muslim, Southeast Asian, Native, Black, disabled and queer/trans communities”.

“We need his unequivocal statement to say that the University of MA will not stand for xenophobia, or hatred, and will protect their undocumented students, and we will not go anywhere until we get that statement”. Mayors of some cities, such as Chicago’s Rahm Emanuel, have declared their cities to be safe havens or “sanctuary cities” for those living in the US without documentation.

One Rutgers junior said he was an undocumented immigrant and it gave him “great hope” to see all those turning out for the protest.

The desire for a sanctuary campus comes in response to Donald Trump’s campaign promise to deport millions of undocumented people after he takes office. A criminal history containing a felony or several misdemeanors now disqualifies an undocumented immigrant from participating in the DACA program.

Since Election Day, several major cities in California and across the nation have vowed to continue to continue as “sanctuary cities” – that is, to defy federal immigration law and resist deportations of illegal aliens. Since his election he has said he would seek to deport three million “criminals” and praised the other undocumented people here.

“We’re here to spread love and peace and support and justice for everyone”, said Xochi Cartland, 17, a senior.