By: Valentina Toro
Managing Editor
Students and community members gathered in the Academic Quad on Thursday, Sept. 17, calling for changes to the university’s response to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity and increased protections for students and workers.
The rally was organized by the Communists Club and New Haven Socialist Alternative following increased ICE activity across Connecticut and the detention of a student at Tweed New Haven Airport earlier this month.
“We need to come together, not just to rally and protest and say, you know, we stand against this, but to take next steps and to not just treat these detainments as isolated incidents,” psychology major Tatum Kerr, a senior and president of the Communists Club, said.
Organizers called for the university to become what they described as a sanctuary campus and asked the university to limit cooperation with ICE.
Among their demands were protections for student and employee information, restrictions on sharing campus camera footage and increased resources for students affected by immigration enforcement.
Kerr said the rally was not organized solely because of the student’s detention.
She said organizers viewed the detention alongside recent immigration enforcement activity throughout Connecticut.
For Sammy Albright, a member of New Haven Socialist Alternative, the detention brought the issue closer to the university campus community.
“It really felt like, oh, this isn’t, you know, some far-off thing,” Albright said. “This is right, you know, affecting our own community.”
Organizers also called for ICE to be kept out of both Tweed New Haven and Bradley International airports.
Albright said he would like to see workers and unions organize against the agency’s presence at airports.
Albright said becoming a sanctuary campus would also mean providing students, faculty and staff with information about their rights when interacting with immigration authorities.
“They should offer know-your-rights campaigns or meetings and trainings to all students, workers and faculty about ICE,” Albright said.
He also emphasized that organizers want the university to establish policies against sharing immigration status information or campus camera footage with ICE and provide legal resources for students affected by immigration enforcement.
Kerr said she would like to see committees of students and workers formed to respond if immigration enforcement affect someone in the campus community.
She said those committees could alert the campus when a student or employee is detained or when ICE is present on campus.
The university is part of the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities system.
Kerr said she wants policies addressing immigration enforcement to apply throughout the system rather than only at one campus.
“I would hope to see CSCU pass some bold and enforceable policy for all campuses within their system,” Kerr said.
Organizers said they hope the rally leads to continued involvement from students and workers and further discussions with university and system administrators about immigration enforcement.
“I hope what comes from this rally, because, like I said, I was talking to students and workers, and we can see that this issue is on the minds of many, is a drive to get organized,” Kerr said.
