In front of the Geisel Library, dozens of UC San Diego activists made their voices heard — loud and clear.
“We are here to say one simple thing, ‘Not on our watch, not in our America!’” said lead protest organizer Daniel Soria.
The San Diego native and fourth year UC San Diego student said the group was voicing opposition to student visa revocations.
In recent weeks, several international university students in the U.S. have been taken by immigration agents or had their legal status questioned.
UCSD said five of its students had their visas revoked. A sixth student was detained at the border, and deported.
“The only wrong these students committed was attaining an education, expressing opinions, joining our community, exercising rights that belong to each and every one of us,” Soria said during his speech at the rally.
“I was born here as an American citizen, but mostly all my family, my community, even my brothers friends and the friends I've made during my years here, are immigrants,” said UC San Diego student Denisse Lopez.
Like Soria, Lopez is from San Diego County.
She was one of many activists who gathered and marched across campus with megaphones and posters.
“The main concern is that our own friends, our own people are getting deported. In my department a lot of the students are international students with H-1 visas,” she said.
In particular, Lopez said she was protesting for those who couldn't afford to do the same.
“I haven't seen my uncle for 10 years because of deportation. So this makes me want to speak in my own voice for my family, for my friends, because I don't want to see my friends taken away from me,” the fourth year student said.
The rally coincides with a new federal policy to screen “Aliens’ Social Media Activity for Antisemitism” as grounds for denying immigration benefit requests.
In its announcement, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said the organization will "consider social media content that indicates an alien endorsing, espousing, promoting, or supporting antisemitic terrorism, antisemitic terrorist organizations, or other antisemitic activity as a negative factor in any USCIS discretionary analysis when adjudicating immigration benefit requests.”
Those at the rally said the government has been targeting and attempting to censor those with certain political opinions.
“Lawful political speech and association are not crimes in this country. They are not valid grounds for deportation in our law and in our democratic tradition,” Soria said.
In regard to what they hope the protest can accomplish, Soria had a goal in mind:
“To the federal immigrant judges here in San Diego and at the Otay Mesa detention facilities, do your duty. Do not rubber stamp these deportations, scrutinize every case,” he said. “If the government claims these students pose a threat, insist they prove it with actual evidence.”
A smaller group of protestors took the trolley Wednesday afternoon to rally outside of the San Diego County Courthouse at the John Rhodes Federal Judicial Center downtown.
There, they planned to deliver letters with the hope that federal judges would listen and read their united message.
