The Movimiento Estudiantil Chicanx de Aztlán (M.E.Ch.A.) at San Diego State University held a protest Wednesday afternoon at Hepner Hall over the administration’s silence on the attacks against the Latino community. This protest was announced on Tuesday on the organization’s Instagram page as a call to action. 

“We stand in solidarity with the city of Los Angeles. NO ONE IS ILLEGAL ON STOLEN LAND!” said their post. 

M.E.Ch.A. is an organization that is known to advocate for higher education, political consciousness and cultural awareness. Karla Chaj-Pérez, a fourth-year criminal justice major and co-chair of M.E.Ch.A., said she was not surprised by SDSU’s silence.

“It’s very much what it has been for the past couple [of] years, we students protect each other,” Chaj-Pérez said. “We protect us because SDSU has shown time and time again that they are not going to do that.”

The event followed a 6-3 Supreme Court ruling on Monday that allows U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement to continue immigration raids in Los Angeles. After several months of arrests targeting Latinx communities across the country, the decision in Noem v. Perdomo gives the Trump administration greater latitude to carry out mass deportations. 

Supreme Court Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh said immigration officials prioritize Los Angeles because “illegal immigration is especially pronounced” in the area. 

The Supreme Court not only authorized immigration raids to continue – they also overturned a district court ruling that had restricted agents from questioning and detaining individuals based on factors unrelated to immigration status.   

U.S. District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong ruled, “that ICE agents were conducting ‘roving patrols’ of L.A. and making arrests without ‘reasonable suspicion’ that their targets were in the country illegally,” according to POLITICO.

According to Kavanaugh’s concurring document, the following factors include: “(i) Presence at particular location such as bus stops, car washes, day laborer pickup sites, agricultural sites, and the like; (ii) the type of work one does; (iii) speaking Spanish or speaking English with an accent; and (iv) apparent race or ethnicity.”

Alyssa Rodriguez, a third-year social work student and co-vice chair of M.E.Ch.A., had an emotional reaction when she learned about the ruling.

“I cried, I broke down, and I couldn’t hold myself together, after seeing that,” Rodriguez said. “After hearing the Supreme Court case ruling, it just meant that a lot of my friends, my grandparents, my parents themselves, my sisters, who are just slightly darker than me could be picked up by ICE based on the way that they looked. I could be approached based on speaking Spanish, you know, a tongue that I’ve grown up [with], that meant community, that meant safety.”

When the protest began, students gathered on the grass in front of Hepner Hall. Those who led the protest yelled chants with megaphones, while M.E.Ch.A. members waved the organization’s flag and other participants held signs, including one that said, “I AM EVEYRTHING THEY FEAR…EDUCATED, SUCCESSFUL, & AN UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANT.”

Though the gathering started small, students joined as they passed the protestors on their way to other buildings, drawn in by the protestors’ chants. 

“ICE, ICE out of San Diego!,” one protestor shouted.

As different speakers took the megaphone to share their opinions, many people cheered, clapped and shouted “Shame” to hold the presidential and school administrations accountable for their silence on violence. 

Once a crowd had formed, organizers led students to Manchester Hall, where Adela de la Torre’s presidential office is located. Organizers and participants planned a sit-in protest to ensure their demands were heard by the person they believed should break the silence the most. 

M.E.Ch.A.’s ultimate goal in these protests is to make SDSU a sanctuary campus. Chaj-Pérez said that with San Diego so close to the border, there is fear that ICE activity could increase and escalate as it has in L.A. Students want to ensure that if that happens, SDSU will be a campus where they are protected inside and outside of classrooms. 

Luis Hernandez Espinoza Jr., a first-year kinesiology major minoring in Latin American Studies, emphasized the stress that minorities face from immigration raids in higher education settings. 

“That’s why we come, we come to school to learn, to educate, to have a better future for not only us, [but] for our family as well,” Espizona said. “But how can we do that when we have fear of ICE agents coming in?”

Fourth-year psychology major Isabel Sandoval said she has faith that M.E.Ch.A. will continue making an impact on the Latinx community. 

“My hope is one day this really translates to actual changes,” Sandoval said. “But I just hope that people on campus that might disagree with us can see like ‘we are here, and we don’t care what you think.’”

Despite fear and uncertainty, students like Rodriguez are willing to face the challenges to protect their identity and culture. 

“It’s scary and it’s nerve wracking,” Rodriguez said. “I’m putting myself out there for a lot of people to see, for a lot of organizations to see [and] for SDSU to see. And one can only be scared of the backlash or the consequences, but I’m prideful in what I’m saying. I will not back down in the demands that we are asking for and I want my voice to be heard.”

Even though students fear being racially profiled, they know the only way to create change is to stand up – something SDSU’s administration has yet to do.  

“I don’t know how secure I feel at the moment, especially in San Diego, not responding or giving us any sort of security,” Espinoza said. “But I think just being here, being with the students, being with your fellow peers and organizations, that’s the way you stay safe, because together we’re stronger. That’s the only way you gotta stay united.”