Chicago students and youth rally in defense of immigrant rights

By Ariana Vega and Gio Araujo

Chicago, IL – On Friday, May 2, more than 60 students, youth and allies from universities and high schools across Chicago rallied at Federal Plaza to speak out against recent attacks on the immigrant community, as well as visa revocations and deportations for protesting the genocide in Palestine. This was part of the Mayday Week of Action organized by the Coalition Against the Trump Agenda (CATA). Students and youth rallied around the slogans “Education, not deportation!” “ICE off campus and our communities!” and “Legalization for all!”

The student walkouts organized by the CATA consisted of speakers from the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC), DePaul University, Evanston Township High School, Columbia Chicago College and Association House Chicago High School.

“The next generation of fighters ready to fight back!”

A member of Students for a Democratic Society at DePaul University started off the protest, speaking about the genocide in Palestine, saying, “The bloody Biden administration laid the groundwork for and initiated a violent repression campaign to try to silence. Now, the racist Trump administration has taken up this campaign and accelerated it. Across the country, students are being brutalized by police, suspended, expelled, imprisoned, illegally detained and deported”

They talked about the continued repression the Palestine solidarity movement has faced since the student encampments last year at their university, stating, “But just as our suffering is the same, so too is our power. As students, we have immense power, and we build that power together like we have today. As long as there is struggle there is hope, and as long as we struggle together we cannot be defeated.”

Next, Alicia Riberio, a student at UIC and a member of Sanctuary For All stated, “The U.S.border was created through indigenous genocide. The first Border Patrol was born out of the KKK. Quote ‘national security interests’ are the basis for murders of the U.S. empire globally. Here, at home in Chicago, Sanctuary for All is fighting for the actual safety and belonging of our students at UIC today and into the future!”

Riberio continued, “We are here today to tighten our community, deepen our practice of solidarity, sharpen our political analysis, and fight for our collective demands! None of us are free until all of us are free!”

Matt Martirez from the Kabataan Alliance spoke of the enormous win of setting Filipino migrants held by ICE free achieved by the Alliance in collaboration with Tangol Migrante. Martirez states, “Taking a stand out here is hope. Whenever we march, every step has a purpose, to shake the ground beneath our feet and show the flaws in the foundation made to keep us down. Whenever we chant and call, it is a signal to the rest of the world that the people will keep fighting for what is right! As long as injustice reigns upon the world we will be there to object. As long as communities are under attack we will be there to organize. We will resist until victory! We will resist until liberation!”

Martirez then finished their speech with a call to action for their community, “We, the Filipino community, will continue to organize as Kabataan Alliance and Tangol Migrante to fight for our people’s safety and liberation. We call upon the Filipino youth to join us in our fight to defend migrants and migrant workers. Fight for your communities! Show the world that you will not be silenced!”

Adrian Gallegos of the New Students for a Democratic Society at UIC, whose student contingent had come to the protest right after a speak-out on their campus, stated, “With Trump’s continued attacks on our movements, it is more important than ever to fight back. And even though times may feel hopeless right now, I’m not giving up! I’m not giving up because I know we have the numbers on our side. I’m not giving up because when I look around this plaza today, I see the next generation of fighters ready to fight back! I’m not giving up because for every attack against one of our own, the moment comes back stronger.”

Next, Nadiah Alyafai from the Arab American Action Network (AAAN) touched on the travel bans secretly imposed by the racist Trump administration, stating, “We’ve seen the leaked travel ban, targeting 41 countries, rooted in anti-Arab and anti-Black racism. We then witness the president, the secretary of state, the head of homeland security, and others in this administration celebrate this cruelty on social media and when they mock tearing apart families, the disappearance of students to private immigration prisons, the stripping of legal permanent residents’ protections because of their political views, and weaponize immigration prisons against students and organizers, they send a chilling message. No one in our communities is safe!”

Alyafai ended her speech on a strong call for unity and solidarity, “And that is why we must unite because our struggles are connected. Whether it’s ICE raids, police violence, imperialist wars abroad, or economic exploitation at home, the systems harming us are one in the same. U.S. imperialism, capitalism and white supremacy, they must be dismantled!”

“Change can and will happen!”

The last speaker of the rally was Charlie Vazquez. He is a high school student and proud member of the Immigrant Rights Working Committee of the Chicago Alliance Against Racism and Political Repression (IRWC – CAARPR) who stated, “What the Trump administration is doing is spreading discriminatory lies to divide our country even more than it already is. Which is why I’m proud to be here and say that I’m part of this committee that is fighting so hard for the rights of immigrants.”

Vazquez ended their speech strongly with a hopeful fighting spirit, stating, “It feels so amazing; being here able to feel like I’m contributing towards change. Makes it seem like things can happen and that maybe it’ll all be different!”

Vazquez continued, “With support from both the youth and the older activists change can and will happen! Working together as a community and uniting against these attacks, our people will force them to hear our voices!”

#ChicagoIL #IL #StudentMovement #ImmigrantRights #HighSchool

Source: https://fightbacknews.org/chicago-students-and-youth-rally-in-defense-of-immigrant-rights?pk_campaign=rss-feed