University of Oregon Student Workers, the Party of Socialism and Liberation of Eugene, the Latiné Male Alliance, UO Mecha and UO Young Democratic Socialists of America held a “Day Without an Immigrant” rally outside Johnson Hall at noon in response to the Oregon Farmworker Union’s call for action.
Eugene community member Patty Hine said that February’s monthly “Day Without an Immigrant” rally is “in solidarity” with all the groups in Eugene who want to show that a day without an immigrant would be a day without “some of the most important and underpaid work in the whole country.”
“Not to mention that ICE raids are terrifying everyone,” Hine said. “Our favorite neighbors are missing in action because they’re terrified of coming out, and going to work, and doing their grocery shopping and taking their kids to school.”
Hine and other members of the community held butterfly posters, which she said represent “freedom.”
On the steps of Johnson Hall — the university’s administration building — speakers gave speeches and led chants and songs. At the edges of the roughly 200-person crowd, organizers held clipboards with petitions to get ICE off campus and out of Eugene.
Carter Franks, a petitioner with UO YDSA, said they have two demands for the university: to use its Duck Alert system to “alert every single student if ICE does come on campus,” and for UO to revise its code of conduct to protect students from ICE.
“I’m involved because I have empathy … I’m trying to use whatever meager power I have to push back,” Franks said.
UO first-year student Julia Bancescu said she stumbled upon the rally after her class got out and stayed because she cares about the issue. As a first-generation college student, Bancescu said her family has been affected by deportation for the last few decades.
“It’s really insane, and it’s bad that it’s becoming a lot more violent toward citizens here, whether they be undocumented or actual citizens. It’s just unfair that people are treated this way because they look different or because they’re from a different place,” Bancescu said.
One of the groups represented at the rally was the Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation. Emily Beatty, chair of the contract team for GTFF, said the group was at the rally to “support the anti-ICE coalition that’s currently forming at UO,” and to support community members, students and staff alike.
“We’ve seen UO’s lack of response and its insistence that we be compliant with the federal administration. And we don’t agree with it. We think it’s unsafe … and we think that we’re better than that, we have the resources to protect ourselves. So we’re here to make a point about that and keep the pressure up,” Beatty said.
Speaker Kaleigh Bronson-Cook, a research faculty member in the College of Education, gave a speech about the struggle for free speech and workers’ rights at UO. She said she would like to see a cultural center for immigrants on campus, as well as the Duck Alert system used to announce ICE activity on campus.
“I’m here today because I want to see concrete action from our university to defend our students, to protect our students, especially our undocumented students,” Bronson-Cook said.
From the steps of Johnson Hall, she led the crowd in singing “This Land Is Your Land.”
The group marched to the Erb Memorial Union, chanting and singing on the way.
In the EMU, the group’s songs filled the space as they sang “Cielito Lindo” and “Solidarity Forever.”
“An injury to one of us is an injury to all, and it’s one struggle, one fight,” Bronson-Cook said. “We need to work together to defeat these racist systems and institutions, and fight for the change that we want to see in our university.”
Correction: This story has been updated to reflect a spelling error in Young Democratic Socialists of America. The Emerald regrets this error.
