Following the F-1 visa revocations of four University of Oregon international students, around 250 students and community members gathered outside Johnson Hall to show support for the four students. 

Joseph Anthony, a speaker at the rally, said the fear some students and community members have felt surrounding these current events provides an “energy… to push back harder.” 

“If we (greater UO community) let them in, they will not stop here… what (the) Department of Homeland Security is doing is baseless and unjustified,” Anthony said.

Isaak Ordaz, another speaker at the event, is an organizer for the Young Democratic Socialists of America and a student at Lane Community College. 

During his speech, Ordaz listed specific demands for the university administration to uphold. 

The demands included:

• Not sharing photos, contact information or student credentials with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officers
• Denying ICE access to “all campus work sites”
• Providing legal assistance for affected students 
• Eliminating code of conduct violations students received at pro-Palestine rallies last year 

UO does provide legal assistance to students, which is accessible through their website.

“It is up to us, the people with moral clarity to stand up for our international students… and the university as a whole,” Ordaz said. 

Ordaz also said he would like to see UO use the UO Alerts system, a program designed to send emails and text messages to students in the event of law enforcement activity or natural disasters, to notify students of ICE agents on campus.

“Getting those updates would be extremely helpful if UO would use the same system,” Ordaz said. 

According to Anthony and one of the pamphlets passed around at the rally, YDSA is setting up another monitoring system, an app, to help identify ICE agents and warn the community of their presence. 

“It will be a call line, text line and people taking it in will confirm if the people are ICE and connect with community partners,” Anthony said. 

The pamphlet also said the goal of this app would be to “protect each other by not creating any unnecessary stress, fear or anxiety” that would be generated by false reports.

Jason Sydes, a lecturer of the Knight campus graduate internship program, spoke in representation of faculty at the rally. 

Sydes described the four international students who got their visas revoked as “valuable” for the UO community.

“I want to live in a world where we celebrate diversity and our university students help us do that,” Sydes said. 

Sydes said he believed action is needed from UO and other universities, instead of “laying down quietly” in acts of “anticipatory disobedience”

Will Rivas, a UO student, said he came to the rally to “show people that you (he) cares” about international students. 

“It’s really f—ing scary what is happening to these students and it really sets a precedent and I want to know concrete steps for change and the demands for UO,” Rivas said. 

Em Farquhar, a UO student, said he attended for similar reasons.

“I decided to show up on the war on our citizens and people that are rightly here because I want to stop fascism and felt this was one of the best ways to do it,” Farquhar said.