On Tuesday, January 27th, at 2 p.m., numerous UCLA students and faculty members gathered together for a walk-out demonstration against federal ICE murders. Members of our student body expressed their First Amendment right to free speech to stand in solidarity with victims of unlawful ICE interventions and the invasion of ICE around our Los Angeles community. Students and faculty expressed resistance against the murders of innocent people, including Keith Porter, Renee Good, and Alex Pretti, ensuring these names will not go unnoticed on our campus and demonstrating that their deaths will not be in vain. Together, our Bruin community walked with confidence and motivation.
A critical aspect of UCLA culture is the combination of diverse minds representing multiple points of view of the world. Our university has over 6,000 undergraduate international students, making up 7.7% of our whole student body and representing 107 countries. About 22% of our student body is Hispanic, 6.5% is African American, 0.7% is American Indian, 35.1% is Asian and Pacific Islander, and 25% is White; many of these students are LA residents. We have students across all cultures, ethnic backgrounds, and of every race.
We are all Bruins, and we wouldn’t be our university without the stories each of us carries within to reach this institution. Our immigrant students, international students, and every child of an immigrant will graduate with an accredited degree, and they are more than deserving of it. Together, we chanted, “ICE OUT OF UCLA!”
LA is a very diverse county and is the largest Latino-populated city in the United States, with Latinos/Hispanics making up slightly under half of the whole population. What many have known as home for the majority of their lives is becoming a place where residents are fearful to walk outside. This is an injustice, and this is not tolerated by our LA communities. We are living through a political climate that is trying to turn us against each other and paint immigrants as a danger to our nation. Still, the true danger is being a bystander to this terrorizing state of our country – a country that immigrants built on land that never belonged to any of us. Together, we chanted, “ICE OUT OF LA!”
We are not so different from each other – we are educated individuals working toward a brighter future with more opportunities than the generations before us could have. We value our privileges and also recognize the challenges that come from not fitting the White supremacist agenda, but we aren’t trying to fit into that standard anyway. Our multicultural, multi-ethnic, multi-national neighborhoods will never stop being a pillar in LA’s foundation, known worldwide.
We are stronger together and more powerful as a union for a cause, for justice, and for respect. I felt empowered walking beside my classmates – walking with pride and gratitude for the inclusivity and empathy we are coming together to represent. I will never stop celebrating being a Bruin, and I will never stop celebrating my Mexican-American heritage.