‘Does this sound like a free country to you?’
Approximately 60 Indiana University student activists braved stormy weather last week to protest President Trump’s plan to deport immigrants residing illegally in the United States.
Various speakers ripped the president’s “extreme level of brutality” and “dehumanization” against the undocumented and BIPOC (black, Indigenous, people of color) individuals, the Indiana Daily Student reports.
One activist told the crowd that Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) “real mission” is to “make us lose hope in this racially discriminatory system” and asked “does this sound like a free country to you?”
Another said “We need to call for IU to become a sanctuary campus to protect our own community. This would mean creating policy protecting undocumented people on campus and not allowing ICE officers onto campus without a warrant.”
Slogans on activists’ signs read “My immigrant parents work harder than your president!!” “Mexicans aren’t going anywhere,” and “Without immigrants there would be no USA!”
Several speakers voiced the night’s theme of solidarity and community.
“It is important to me because it is my people and my culture,” IU freshman Gisel Vergara said. “Especially in times like this, we should just pick each other up. I am not the daughter of an immigrant, but this still impacts me.”
Freshman Saidy Rivera had a different reason for attending the rally.
“My sign says that I’m the voice of the family. This is the main reason why I am here, so I can speak up and advocate for them,” Rivera said.
The peaceful rally ended with traditional Mexican music and protesters dancing together.
Sarah Alhaddad, a candidate for student government vice president, reminded her fellow activists what happened to an anti-Israel encampment early last year.
“You saw the way that those cops bulldozed us, and they will not hesitate do the same to you,” Alhaddad said. “All of our struggles are interconnected, and I am going to be the voice in […] Student Government that I wish I had when everything was going on last year with the encampment.”
According to her Linkedin page, Alhaddad also is a member of the IU Palestine Solidarity Committee. The local Council on American Islamic Relations recently deemed Indiana U. a “hostile campus” for Muslim, Palestinian, and Arab students.
MORE: Leftist student groups: ICE recruiters at Duke job fair a ‘societal attack against our humanity’
IMAGE: Indiana Daily Student/X
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