UIC student walkout on May Day for a sanctuary campus

Chicago, IL – On Friday, May 1, students at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) walked out of class at 10:30 in the morning to demand an end to the deportations, legalization for all undocumented immigrants, and that the university administration take immediate steps to make the UIC a sanctuary campus. Over 100 protesters, a mix of undergraduate students and striking members of the university’s Graduate Employees Organization (GEO) Local 6297, gathered in the UIC quad.

The call for student walkouts across the country on May 1 was put out by the Legalization 4 All (L4A) Network in collaboration with New Students for a Democratic Society (New SDS). At UIC, three student organizations, Anakbayan at UIC, Mexican Students de Aztlán (MeSA), and New SDS at UIC, answered the call and co-organized their university’s walkout.

The program included speakers from nearly a dozen endorsing organizations. Sathvika Gowda, a member of New SDS at UIC, opened the program stating, “This past year we witnessed Chicago’s immigrant communities on the South and Southwest sides be terrorized by ICE and Operation Midway Blitz. Shame!”

Gowda continued, “At the same time, UIC’s immigrant students have had to come to school in fear, worrying about the wellbeing of their families, friends, neighborhoods and communities. All the while, UIC administration did nothing to protect our immigrant students right here. It has been our cultural centers, their staff and us as the students who have acted to protect and make a safe space for UIC’s immigrant and oppressed students in the face of our administration’s inaction!”

Last year, Chicago was targeted by the Trump administration for a large-scale immigration enforcement operation. For many UIC students, that fall semester at the university was a nightmare as ICE thugs terrorized communities across the city. On October 8, two women were violently kidnapped on campus grounds, leading hundreds of UIC students to protest ICE’s actions and UIC administration’s inaction.

At the time, the university administration refused to condemn the abduction and tried to wash their hands of all responsibility – something they were later forced to walk back. The two women were eventually released from ICE custody, as it was later revealed that they were Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) recipients.

A MeSA member and undergraduate student at UIC spoke next, “Coming from a mixed-status family, I know that we are often encouraged to stay silent to protect ourselves and our families. But I am here to tell you that my family, despite not always being so supportive of my activism, instilled me with a faith that teaches me that a divorce from the conditions of oppressed people is blasphemy, a faith that doesn’t work for the people it represents is a faith that is dead!”

A graduate worker representing GEO Local 6297, said, “In bargaining for a better, fair, and equitable contract, the admin has refused to make progress. This union demands a livable wage, affordable healthcare and protections from the fascists in ICE. I believe that we will win – not because it is easy – but because we must.”

Ángel Naranjos, a member of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization said, “May Day is a reminder that the people organized can land blows against this system. Our movements are going to come out of this era stronger than they went in. As students and young people we must remember that the future is ours, but only if we’re willing to fight for it!”

President of New SDS, Erin Boyle, gave the final speech, “We’re up against a dying system that’s trying to crush all that’s good in the world so a few men can stuff their pockets. But we have the opportunity to organize in our communities, in our workplaces and on our campuses, and not alone.”

After the rally, MeSA member Alyson Sanchez introduced an art project that she had been working on titled La Fiesta: Joy as Resistance. Sanchez revealed two piñatas depicting Donald Trump as a pig in orange makeup for protesters to destroy. Students and youth leapt at the chance to participate in the Mexican party tradition and claim some candy.

Then, the students who had walked out gathered once again. They marched off campus and joined the citywide May Day demonstration in Chicago’s Union Park which saw thousands of people, among them many students and youth, participate.

#ChicagoIL #IL #StudentMovement #ImmigrantRights #SDS #MESA #GEO