Editor’s Note: This article was originally anonymously submitted to The UCSD Guardian for publishing on March 26. The writer is a student at the UCSD School of Medicine who we have granted anonymity due to the current dangers posed to international students in the U.S., even those that have attained citizenship. The following piece is an open letter, which The Guardian has edited minimally for style and clarity only.
This is an absolute disgrace. Plainclothes federal agents are arresting and deporting lawful permanent residents, visa holders, and United States citizens for protesting. This is an absolute disgrace.
First Amendment
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
This is an absolute disgrace and a breach of the First Amendment.
We cannot stand idly by and allow such heinous acts to continue.
Before obtaining my citizenship, I was a lawful permanent resident. Before that, I was on a student visa.
I attended a rally calling for peace and justice for Palestinian people whose homes, mosques, churches, schools, and hospitals were being systematically destroyed. At my undergraduate university, I listened to Palestinian students describe the hate crimes on our campus, some who had lost family and friends because of Israeli bombardment.
Had I not received my citizenship, would I be next on Immigration and Custom Enforcement’s list? Or is my citizenship not enough to protect me?
Who is safe?
I hate hyperbole, but the closest thing I can compare this situation to is the Gestapo of 1930s Nazi Germany — a force created to enact the brutally racist, xenophobic, authoritarian regime of Adolf Hitler.
To be honest, I am scared. I am scared because this administration has shown that nobody is safe. This administration has shown that it does not care about decency, or due process, or the Constitution. It simply cares about its goals and is willing to accomplish them by any means necessary. It is only concerned about turning Gaza into a resort complex and silencing any political dissidents that stand in the way of this.
We are living in a dangerous time. Yet, as scared as I am, there are those who live in deeper fear than me. I am now an American citizen. I am a medical student. I have never broken the law.
What now?
