Students want ban on Trump administration visiting campus

Jacksonville, FL – The University of North Florida (UNF) chapter of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) rallied, marched, and staged a sit in, Feb. 28, to present several demands to the school administration. These demands included turning the campus into a sanctuary campus, banning Trump’s administration from visiting UNF, and pushing for more Black, Latino and other oppressed nationality teachers and students on campus. There was also a call for a $15 living wage for all workers on campus. Over 40 students participated in the event, titled “SDS Strikes Back” in reference to last semester’s huge Black Lives Matter rally that launched SDS and pulled a core of student activists together.

On Feb. 22, students voted to make Florida State University (FSU) a sanctuary campus by a vote of 67%. The referendum vote was part of the Spring 2017 Student Government Association elections at FSU.

On Feb. 9, during the swearing-in ceremony for new Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Donald Trump signed three executive orders concerning policing. The orders were said to be directed at public safety but in fact could have a devastating impact on Black and brown communities.

More than 500 people marched on a warm night, Feb. 20, in downtown Milwaukee to mark the one-month anniversary of Trump’s inauguration. The action was organized by the Milwaukee Coalition Against Trump (MCAT), a grassroots effort that has united much of the city’s progressive movement into a united fightback against the Trump agenda.

On Feb. 18, more than 2500 people gathered in Powderhorn Park in Minneapolis to protest President Trump’s recent executive orders against immigrants. The MN Anti-War Committee and the No More Deportations campaign co-sponsored the rally which was followed by a community march to show solidarity with the immigrants and refugees targeted by President Trump’s executive orders.

With less than a day’s notice, 30 people gathered at the historic Mariachi Plaza, Feb. 16, rallying in support of the undocumented on “A Day Without Immigrants.”

On Feb. 15 protesters gathered on the corner of 5th and 57th, across the street from Trump Towers. The protest was called because earlier that day President Trump and Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had just finished meeting in Washington DC, where they colluded against the Palestinians.

Another legal defeat was handed to Donald Trump, Feb. 9, as the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected his administration's request for the reinstatement of the executive order banning immigrants from seven Arab, African, or Muslim-majority countries. Late last week, a Seattle judge had instituted a nationwide restraining order against the Muslim ban, which halted its implementation across the entire U.S.

At noon on Feb. 9, a day after the Army Corp of Engineers reversed its decision and gave the go-ahead to the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), 150 people gathered in downtown Saint Paul to denounce this ruling. After a brief rally, the activists marched through the streets chanting, “You can’t drink oil, leave it in the soil,” “1, 2, 3, 4! Pipelines, genocide and war. 5,6,7,8! America was never great,” and “Mini wiconi, water is life.”