By: Sophia da Silva
As part of his campaign promises, President Donald Trump has planned to carry out the “largest deportation operation in American history.” Trump’s plan has played out with raids by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, commonly referred to as ICE, across the country, stoking fear in immigrant communities.
In February, the University of Maryland had ICE listed as one of the participating employers at its spring career fair, triggering an outcry of student action. On Feb. 9, AIM, or Anti-Imperialist Movement at UMD, released a petition calling for the expulsion of ICE from the fair, garnering over 2,000 signatures in three days. ICE pulled out of the fair on Feb. 18.
AIM is a coalition of 11 student activist organizations on this university’s campus, including Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), Political Latinxs United for Movement and Action in Society (PLUMAS), Anakbayan College Park, and College Park Mutual Aid.
“All the organizing and the support for undocumented immigrant students on campus has come from the students themselves and faculty, and the administration has been disappointingly quiet,” said Tamara Zuniga, PLUMAS co-president.
Students Angie Sandoval and Estephany Sanchez arranged a community conversation event on Feb. 20 for Latine students to express their political concerns.
“Coming back to campus, it kind of felt like every day I woke up with a sense of guilt. While everyone was worrying about deportation, about the political world, I was worried about classes,” said Sanchez.
Sanchez, a junior criminology and criminal justice major, is the only one in her family born in the United States. The recent targeting of immigrants has made her anxious about her loved ones.
“My mom recently hasn’t been wanting to go to stores or anything because she’s so scared, and the only thing that I can really do is console her,” said Sanchez. “I think, ‘How much does that even help?’”
The community conversation, dubbed Voces de Esperanza, was her way of fighting a sense of helplessness.
Sandoval tries not to look too much at the news.
“If I look at it for a long period of time, I’m gonna start feeling anxious, and it’s gonna distract me,” said Sandoval, a junior hearing and speech sciences major. “It obviously is in the back of my mind... what if something were to happen?”
Hearing that ICE could have been at the career fair brought up those fears from the back of her mind.
“Because of the way I look, because of my skin and everything—what if they do stop me?” said Sandoval. “It’s still scary to think about that ICE could have come here and detained everyone that they saw just because of the color of their skin.”
She feels that the university is not doing enough to support the immigrant community on campus.
“Just with the university inviting ICE says a lot about the university that they just truly don't care about our community,” said Sandoval.
Omar Sabra from SJP clarified that this university did not invite ICE, but rather ICE signed up for the fair.
“When we asked them about that…legally, they cannot take ICE out of the career fair because otherwise they would get in legal trouble,” said Sabra.
Still, Sabra voiced frustration with the lack of protection provided to undocumented students.
“How do you feel safe when you have immigrant workers, immigrant students who study with us, who come to our classes, who go to the same dorms and dining halls that we go to? It’s scary. It’s terrifying that our administration is OK with that,” said Sabra.
A representative from this university’s career center said that ICE wouldn’t be participating in the career fair and that they adhere to the National Association of Colleges and Employers’s Principles for Ethical Professional Practice and expect recruiters to do the same. The career center did not respond to follow- up questions.
For Zuniga, the university’s “radio silence” is frustrating.
“It’s just really disheartening because they really like to market themselves as ‘Fearlessly Forward,’ proud of the diversity that they have on campus, but they refuse to at least make a statement that they stand in solidarity with their immigrant and undocumented population,” said Zuniga.
On Feb. 26, AIM arranged a boycott of the career fair along with a rally beginning at the McKeldin Sundial protesting the university’s involvement in the military-industrial complex.
AIM's press release condemned the presence of military contractors and defense agencies at the career fair and called for transparency and resources for undocumented students, as well as campus-wide divestment from companies involved in human rights abuses.
“The university plays up both sides of it, and it’s frankly disgusting,” said Matt Foos from College Park Mutual Aid. “We’re not surprised by this, but we will stand up and come out to show the university that we’re not going to take this lying down.”
For Foos and College Park Mutual Aid, the importance of a protest like this one is about supporting the community. He celebrates the victory of kicking ICE off campus and values the continuation of this kind of mobilization.
“We are a little bit down and out at the moment, like things are bad, and they’re getting worse,” said Foos.
Anakbayan College Park is an organization calling for national democracy in the Philippines. Chairperson Gabe, who asked to only be referred by their first name, echoed the importance of rallying and mobilizing the campus community.
“Continue to get people organized to fight for their rights, to fight for better student conditions, and not only that, but to tell admin to make sure that they are remolded, and they rebuild into an educational system that puts student needs first,” said Gabe.
Sam Husseini is a political activist and communications director for the Institute for Public Accuracy. In January, he was dragged out of Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s final press conference after asking questions about the U.S.’s handling of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Husseini joined the protest at UMD after seeing it on his drive-by.
As a longtime activist for the Palestinian liberation movement, Husseini values the recent increase in student activism. Particularly, Husseini sees significance in UMD’s proximity to the capital.
“This is Washington, D.C., with all these institutions that are critical to the maintenance of empire,” said Husseini.
Husseini posed a question on this increase in activism: “Is the escalation enough given the escalation of violence?”
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