San Jose State University students speakout for Mahmoud Khalil, call on administration to condemn ICE
San Jose, CA – On Wednesday, March 26, at noon, around 60 students gathered by the San Jose State University Student Union for a speakout for Mahmoud Khalil and other victims of ICE detainments. The program of the action put forward demands on San Jose State administration and SJSU President Cynthia Teniente Matison for increased protection against ICE, especially for mixed status and undocumented students as well as activists.
The program began with chants. Slogans such as “No fear, no hate, no ICE in our state!” and “We want justice you say how, release Mahmoud Khalil now!” Many chants and slogans revolved around SJSU administration’s inaction around ICE activity, particularly its lackluster response and lack of a statement against ICE. One such slogan encompassed these sentiments, “Admin, admin where’s your spine? You're enabling ICE’s crimes!”
The program then had a sequence of several speakers, first with SDS’s treasurer reading out Khalil’s letter from ICE detention.
Oli Harter, SDS’s political organizing co-chair told the crowd, “SJSU administration is all too familiar with silence. They stand on the sidelines, refusing to divest from war-profiteers and refusing to protect students from ICE.”
Harter continued, “SJSU students demand admin take real, material, measures in defending our community from ICE! We demand divestment from Lockheed Martin, we demand removal of student repression through TMP policies, we demand a statement condemning Mahmoud Khalil’s arrest, and we demand accountability from the cowardly dogs hiding in silence: And until then – No justice! No peace!”
Dominique Thomas from Black Women’s Collective stated, “This may feel like a temporary movement to some, but this is representative of a war we have been fighting alongside all of our ancestors. These wars are fueled by capitalism and white supremacy.”
A speaker from UNITE then emphasized that organization’s own demands, which they shared with the broader activist coalition, including full protection for undocumented and mixed status students.
Sofía Calderon, president of Mecha, spoke on how Trump’s policies reflect an increasingly bigoted political climate. “Mahmoud’s story, like many others reflected the experiences of undocumented folks across the country. Families are being torn apart,” she said. “All this rhetoric and these illegal detainment practices are cruel and evil.”
Finn Albano stated, “Lewelyn Dixon, a Filipina aunty who lived in the U.S. for 50 years as a migrant worker on a valid green card who had zero public ties to the pro-Palestinian movement was arrested and sent to a detention facility just as recently as four days ago. She was detained solely because she was a migrant.”
Nikki Flowers said, “I am the grandchild of a Holocaust survivor. I look around, and I see the current U.S. administration pushing for registries and identification cards. I see ICE kidnapping and disappearing Mahmoud and Leqaa, who are of a people undergoing genocide right now – Palestinians.”
Then, Rachel Abeyta, intern of Students for a Quality Education, read out a statement from her organization co-signed by SDS, SJP and other student organizations.
Lastly, John Duroyan, president of SDS San Jose chapter, gave a speech putting forward a demand towards SJSU admin to condemn Khalil’s arrest and ICE activity on the Bay Area, as well as repeating an ongoing demand centered around SJSU cutting ties with war profiteers.
After concluding remarks from the chant leaders, the attendees posted sticky notes with various demands around the exterior of the Student Union, demanding divestment, statements condemning the arrest, and freedom for Palestinians and victims of ICE detainment.
The action was called by Students for a Democratic Society, alongside other campus organizations including Black Women’s Collective, Students for Quality Education, UNITE, MeCha, League of Filipino Students, and Students Against Mass Incarceration, among several others.