On Wednesday, May 28, approximately 30 UC San Diego community members gathered in front of Silent Tree for a rally to call on the UC administration to uphold free speech and immigrant rights. A parallel rally with the same goals also took place at UC Riverside.
The Student Civil Liberties Union at UCSD and the Young Democratic Socialists of America at UC Riverside collaborated to organize this cross-UC rally, demanding the following from the UC administration:
- “Allocate greater financial and institutional support to Undocumented Student Service Centers
- Bar immigration agents from campus should they not have a judicial warrant.
- Utilize the UC’s emergency notification system to warn students of ICE presence on campus in real-time
- Divest from corporations supporting or benefitting from harmful policies against undocumented immigrants
- Remove financial barriers for undocumented UC students”
The event flyer included a petition that reiterated the rally’s demands, calling them “the minimum necessary steps for the university to uphold its commitment to equity and inclusion.” The organizations urged the UC administration to publicly acknowledge and act on their demands immediately.
At the Silent Tree protest, participants held signs that read, “Fight Ignorance not Immigrants,” “No Border, No Nation, Stop the Deportations,” and “No One is Illegal on Stolen Land, [F—] Trump.”
Representatives from various organizations, including the SCLU, Green New Deal at UCSD, College Democrats at UCSD, and Students for Justice in Palestine San Diego, all gave speeches at the event.
Aryan Dixit, a second-year student and president of the SCLU, spoke on the Trump administration’s recent suspension of student visa application interviews that have prevented many admitted international students from entering the country.
Dixit said that international students make up 20% of UCSD’s student body.
“That’s roughly 8,000 people on this campus who are entirely affected by this administrative oppression, and we need to act,” Dixit said. “Right now is the time to act.”
Dixit voiced his concerns about the policy Regent Richard Leib, chair of academic and student affairs, introduced at the May 14 UC Regents meeting. This policy would discipline faculty who allow “intrusion of materials” into their courses.
“How can you discuss topics such as slavery, apartheid, or colonialism without explaining the politics that goes behind it?” Dixit said. “How can you teach entire disciplinaries like ethnic studies, sociology, et cetera, without recognizing the political aspect?”
A speaker from SJP, who is a daughter of refugees, voiced her exhaustion with the ongoing civil and human rights violations and explained how they have impacted her.
“I’m tired of watching as our rights get peeled away, one name, one headline, one funeral at a time,” she said. “They say this country is built by immigrants but only when it’s convenient for them. … First, they come for the undocumented, then for the Hijabi, then a protestor, then a Palestinian, until suddenly everyone who dares to resist becomes a threat.”
A speaker from Green New Deal at UCSD said that federal systems treat international students “not as learners or leaders, but as threats to be monitored, controlled, and expelled.” The speaker also linked environmental and immigration justice, asserting that they are inseparable. The speaker called for a livable planet where classmates aren’t treated as outsiders.
Second-year Daniel Guerrero, president of College Democrats at UCSD, then spoke about his first-hand experience visiting the U.S.-Mexico border where he witnessed the abject living conditions of migrants.
Guerrero criticized Republican leaders for blocking immigration reform while claiming to support legal immigration pathways.
“The real enemies don’t come by boat or by foot across the borders,” he said. “They come by planes, into the private airports, polluting our air.” He urged the crowd to organize, saying, “When our government doesn’t serve us, it’s our job to serve each other.”
The final speaker was fourth-year Daniel Soria, co-president of the SCLU. Soria noted that student visas have never before been revoked due to students’ political expression. He urged students to mobilize:
“Modern problems require creative solutions. That’s exactly why we are going to immigration courts. … The front line of all these issues is happening right there. We need to intervene, and we need to do it now.”
The rally ended with Soria leading the crowd in a chant of “No one is illegal.”
Organizers also invited attendees to participate in a rally this Wednesday, June 4, at the San Diego Immigration Court. They will observe the court proceedings and record notes to potentially file amicus briefs to counter recent courthouse arrests. The organizers hope to protect migrants from being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
