On Thursday afternoon, around 80 people gathered in Presidents Circle to participate in a protest against attacks on immigrant families.
Protesters demanded “that the university must protect our campus community against Trump’s far-right attacks on immigrants,” according to an Instagram post on the event.
The protest, hosted by Mecha, was their first of the calendar year. The socialist organization has held many protests and events in the past, including the establishment of a solidarity encampment against the war in Gaza last spring.
Christopher Loera-Peña, a student organizer and leader with Mecha, spoke to The Daily Utah Chronicle about the motivations for Thursday’s demonstration.
“Mecha has very deep ties to the immigrant community in Mexico and we saw it as our duty to stand up for immigrants,” Loera-Peña said. “An attack on immigrants is an attack on everyone.”
Just a week into his presidency, President Donald Trump signed a series of executive orders that heavily affect immigration policy in an effort to create mass deportations.
“I consider it an invasion of our country,” Trump said in an interview with TIME. “We’ll get National Guard, and we’ll go as far as I’m allowed to go, according to the laws of our country.”
The Department of Homeland Security recently announced the end of two policies that prohibited Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from making arrests in locations such as schools and churches.
The protest featured organizers from Mecha and several other community organizations. They discussed how deportation efforts have affected immigrant communities and criticized the U for not doing enough to protect student immigrants.
“People are afraid, but actually, I don’t think that fear is even the right word. I don’t think that afraid is the right word,” Alex Murphy, founding member of the Salt Lake City chapter for the Party for Socialism and Liberation, said. “I think the word that we’re looking for is terror.”
Several speakers called on the U to become a sanctuary campus. The demand is similar to calls made in 2016, where college students across the U.S. asked their universities to become sanctuary campuses in the wake of Trump’s first term.
“The University of Utah aims to stand for justice, but justice means nothing if we’re turning our backs on immigrant students,” Rodrigo Fernandez, a Mecha organizer, said. “We demand that the University of Utah become a sanctuary campus now.”
In January, the U released a statement responding to sweeping immigration policy changes issued after Trump’s inauguration. The U outlined the expectation that any enforcement activity on campus adheres to “standard legal requirements” like presenting warrants, subpoenas or court orders in the statement.
The importance of organizing to enact change was another theme several speakers touched on.
“Now is the time to not just show up to rallies and demonstrations, but to join an organization,” said Nate McLaughlin, an organizer with Mecha and with Mormons for Hope. “Work consistently around the clock to protect our most vulnerable. That’s what they need right now. They don’t need sympathy. They need power.”
Nicole Merhi, a second-year psychology student, said she joined the protest to support those being affected by deportation efforts.
“I think that in these times, it’s more important now than ever to be involved in your community and to stand up for what’s right,” she said. “I know a lot of people in my community, my closest friends, are being affected by what’s happening right now, and people who are fearing for their lives.”
Brittney Mast, an organizer with Armed Queers Salt Lake, had a similar reason for participating.
“We believe in immigrant liberation like they are the backbone of the working class,” Mast said. “We are a working-class party, and without immigrants, we don’t have an America, and we need to stand in solidarity and stand up for them and give them the rights that they deserve.”
At the end of the rally, Mecha announced it would participate in another protest this Sunday.
“We are going to keep the movement going until the U makes a statement about how they are going to defend immigrant and undocumented students in our community,” Loera-Peña said.
Murphy emphasized the solidarity the Party for Socialism and Liberation and Mecha share in an interview after the demonstration.
“We came out tonight because we wanted to present that we are in deep solidarity with the immigrant community,” Murphy said. “It feels truly crucial that the Salt Lake Community be prepared for what’s to come.”
