Colleges Across The US Are Protesting Trump In Honor Of Immigrant Students
Students at college campuses across America walked out of classrooms on Wednesday to send a powerful message of solidarity with immigrants.
These students want officials to make their schools "sanctuary campuses" that take a stand against Donald Trump's plans to deport millions of undocumented immigrants.
They want their schools to limit cooperation with immigration authorities, following the example of sanctuary cities like San Francisco, New York and Chicago that protect immigrants from being deported just for being undocumented.
The walkout was coordinated by a grassroots organization called the Cosecha Movement.
Speaking with CNN, Vera Parra, an organizer with Cosecha Movement, offered more insight on the purpose and message of the walkout:
Different campuses are doing different things. Actions are not necessarily directed at school administration, but about supporting undocumented students on campuses and their fears about what can happen to them and their families under a Donald Trump administration.
At least 80 college campuses around the country said they would be involved in the walkouts, which were widely discussed and documented on social media via the hashtag #SanctuaryCampus.
These walkouts are part of the ongoing protests that have occurred nationwide since Donald Trump won the presidential election on November 8.
The US is no stranger to seeing opposition to the election of new presidents, such as the rise of the Tea Party movement after President Obama was elected in 2008.
There were also small protests against the president in some parts of the country after he was reelected in 2012 — including one at the University of Mississippi that involved students yelling racial slurs.
But the size of the protests against Trump and the speed at which they've occurred is unlike anything America has seen in recent memory.
It's quite clear that young people, in particular, are very unhappy with the results of this election.
Trump recently tweeted the protests against him were "unfair," even though he encouraged a protest against President Obama back in 2012 (and the Constitution protects the right to freedom of speech and peacefully assemble).
From the moment he announced he was running for president, Trump has taken an extreme approach to immigration.
There's no denying America's immigration system is in deep need of reform, but Trump is arguably attempting to make an already complicated and draconian system even harsher.
