Around 70 people gathered in front of Geisel Library this past Wednesday, April 2, at 1:20 p.m. for a rally in support of Palestine and against recent government crackdowns on non-citizens across the country who have shown public support for Palestine. This rally preceded the recent news of visa terminations across the University of California, which The UCSD Guardian broke on Friday, April 4.
Mahmoud Khalil, a former graduate student at Columbia University and green-card holder, was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement on March 9, an unprecedented punitive action by the federal government. Khalil’s detention was followed by similar actions by the Trump administration against immigrants and visa holders. On March 27, Secretary of State Marco Rubio claimed that the United States federal government had revoked at least 300 student visas.
A federal district court judge blocked ICE and the State Department from deporting Khalil. He remains detained in a Louisiana immigration detention facility where he awaits a bail decision in his ongoing court case.
Though non-U.S. citizens technically have the constitutional right to exercise freedom of speech, which includes the right to peacefully protest, the Trump administration’s recent arrests and visa revocations targeting protestors have led many to worry that the government is stripping these protections.
Speakers at the rally centered Khalil and the government’s threats toward international students in their speeches.
“What we are witnessing today is fascism. They will start with international students, and slowly, they will start coming for all of us,” the host of the rally, who did not identify themselves, said.
Gary Fields, a professor in the department of communication, spoke on the implications of Khalil’s arrest.
“Mahmoud Khalil was abducted, not only as a protestor against the injustice of the genocide in Gaza, he was abducted as an immigrant, conceivably with the tacit approval of Columbia,” Fields said.
“Let us also be reminded of the fact that our campus sits on one of the flashpoints for immigrant rights on the border here with Mexico,” Fields continued. “And let us also remember that we had a spirited and peaceful encampment here at UCSD against a genocide in Gaza.”
Associated Students presidential candidate and current Earl Warren College Sen. William Simpson spoke at the rally, criticizing the University’s alleged hypocrisy. “To the university administration, you do not get to claim diversity and inclusion while turning your back on your own students,” Simpson said.
After the rally concluded at around 1:50 p.m., protestors marched through Price Center to Matthews Quad. They chanted: “From Palestine to Mexico, these border walls have got to go” and “Break the chains and let them fall.”
