Denver SDS calls for sanctuary campus, no university compliance with ICE, end to deportations
Denver, CO — About 30 students walked out of their classes and gathered in Lawrence Plaza on Denver’s Auraria Campus in the late morning, February 13, in support of immigrant rights. Chants such as “No hate, no fear! Immigrants are welcome here!” and “El pueblo, unido, jamás será vencido!” were heard from the crowd led by Denver Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) as they protested Trump’s agenda and the mass deportation of immigrants.
The Denver SDS walkout was part of New Students for a Democratic Society’s call for a nationwide emergency week of action against the attacks on immigrants and for the defense of sanctuary campuses. Several universities across the United States have already said that they will comply with ICE after Trump signed an executive stating schools, hospitals and childcare centers could be the targets of ICE raids.
Addie Castillo, a Denver SDS member and CU Denver student, spoke at the rally about the mass deportations, stating, “These ICE raids have begun in our city, in our communities. Our friends and our loved ones are scared of having their lives ripped away from them.”
CU Denver also does not have a policy that would require teachers to ask for a warrant, should ICE show up at their classroom door.
The immigrant student body at both major universities on the Auraria campus has become extremely vulnerable due to Trump’s racist mass deportation efforts and both schools’ vague or nonexistent immigrant protection policies. Because of this, Denver SDS has launched a campaign to fight for a sanctuary campus and for CU Denver and MSU Denver administrations to not comply with ICE.
“Each of us has an important job to do. We must protect each other; we must fight whenever we are able; and we must not grow complacent,” said Denver SDS member and Community College of Denver student Theodore Jones during his speech. “When one of us bleeds, we all do. None of us can be free until we all are.”
Auraria Campus, built over a historically Latino and Chicano neighborhood, has a duty to defend immigrants on campus from ICE raids and possible deportation, according to Denver SDS.
SDS demands that administration make Auraria a sanctuary campus and refuse to comply with ICE.