Students Protest ICE on the Quad Following Recent Executive Orders

Seven young adults walk around a large purple and gold painted rock outside. Surrounding the rock there is snow on the ground. Two of the people hold a Mexican flag between them, and two others hold cardboard signs; one of the signs reads “F— I.C.E.”
Students circle “The Rock,” chanting and holding flags and signs, in protest of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). From left to right: Mount Pleasant first-year Nadia Burke, Dallas sophomore River Morelli, Chicago first-year Joan España, Hamilton senior Hannah Fathman, Chicago first-year Eric Garcia, Dallas first-year Arla Lopez and Dallas first-year Jasmine Valdez (Photo by Shay Athayde).

On Wednesday afternoon, students gathered on the quad to protest U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Students chanted and marched around “The Rock,” some holding flags or homemade signs.  

Dallas sophomore River Morelli and Mount Pleasant first-year Nadia Burke, two of the protesters, read about the protest on YikYak, an anonymous social networking app geared towards college students. 

A YikYak user within the Albion “Yak community” posted a flier that announced a protest on the quad at 2 p.m. Morelli said that if the organizer of the protest was there, they didn’t identify themselves. 

A digitally created beige flier reads “We fight back! Stand with immigrants against ICE, Protest @2 January 29th on the quad, bring posters, flags, ect.” In the center of the flier is a photo of people at a protest holding up signs.
A screenshot of an image posted in the Albion “community” on the social networking app YikYak (Photo illustration by Jocelyn Kincaid-Beal).

Morelli is part of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, a policy that allows young immigrants who grew up in the U.S. to seek temporary protection from deportation.

“I’m from Mexico City, I’m a DACA student, and I’m totally for supporting immigrants, especially during this time with like, mass deportations,” Morelli said.

In the first two weeks of his presidency, President Donald Trump signed multiple executive orders reinforcing immigration laws and giving ICE permission to carry out enforcement in churches, schools and hospitals.

Burke said when read about the protest on YikYak, she thought, “I gotta be here.”

“What’s happening in the country’s really really scary to me,” Burke said.

Chicago first-year Joan España also attended the protest on the quad.

“I was born here, so I’m a U.S. citizen – for right now, from the looks of it,”  España said. “And my mom is an illegal immigrant who came here from Mexico just to look for a normal life.”

España said their mother “won’t take anything away from anyone.”

“She went through the process to look for her job and she got one, and it’s not her fault that she got accepted,” España said. “My mom isn’t a criminal.”

España said their mother came to the U.S. to “live her dream” and that the U.S. is her home.

“That’s just not fair, for my mom to have been here for 20 years, she’s probably more American than actual Americans born after her,” España said.

España brought a cardboard sign to the protest reading, “No one is illegal on stolen land.” Chicago first-year Eric Garcia, also in attendance, held a sign reading “F—— I.C.E.”

During the protest, students walked around “The Rock” and chanted phrases. One such phrase was “El pueblo unido jamás será vencido,” a lyric from a famous Chilean protest song. In English, it means, “The people united will never be defeated.”

In addition to signs and chants, Morelli brought a Mexican flag to the protest.

“As someone who’s Mexican, it’s important to stand up for my community even when nobody else will,” Morelli said.

A young man stands looking at the camera, holding a cardboard sign that reads “Nobody is illegal on stolen land.” In the background is a large purple rock, and four more young adults holding signs and flags.
España and Garcia hold up cardboard signs; Burke, Morelli and Valdez hold up flags as they circle the rock chanting (Photo by Jocelyn Kincaid-Beal).
About Jocelyn Kincaid-Beal 28 Articles
Jocelyn Kincaid-Beal is a junior from Ann Arbor, Michigan. They are majoring in English with a Professional Writing focus and minoring in Educational Studies. Jocelyn writes things down because their head would be too crowded otherwise, and now they’re getting paid to do so. Contact Jocelyn via email at JAK17@albion.edu.

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