"Say it loud, say it clear; immigrants are welcome here!"

By Olivia Laramie ‘18
September 13, 2017

On Tuesday, September 12th, the International Socialist Organization and a group of about 60 students, faculty, and townspeople gathered outside the Student Union at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. They met in solidarity for those affected by the recent events in Charlottesville, Virginia and President Trump’s announcement that he is repealing the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA).

News Debrief:

On Saturday, August 12, a “Unite the Right” rally was planned in response to the planned removal of confederate general Robert E. Lee’s statue in Virginia. The event was organized by Jason Kessler, former member of an alt-right fraternal organization called the Proud Boys. The day before, members of the event marched on the University of Virginia shouting statements like, “white lives matter” and “blood and soil” and carrying torches and pitchforks.

The following day, the Unite the Right rally took place but was met with counter-protesters. A state of emergency was called for the cities of Charlottesville and Albemarle in the late morning. That afternoon, a car drove into anti-protesters killing 32 year old Heather Heyer and injuring 19 others.

On September 5, less than a month following these events, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that President Trump would be repealing DACA. This American immigration policy was established by Barack Obama’s administration in June 2012. The action states that children who entered the country illegally as minors are eligible to receive a renewable two year period of protection from deportation. They may also apply for a work permit. Today, there are about 800,000 people, known as Dreamers, enrolled in the action.

Trump’s administration states that the repeal will not take place for six months. Following the six month period, these 800,000 dreamers will be eligible for deportation. Trump has given congress this six month period to find an alternate solution for this population of people.

“Education not deportation!”

The solidarity rally at UMass hosted a variety of speakers from various groups on the UMass Amherst and Amherst College campuses. Nathalie Amazan, a member of the UMass Amherst Prison Abolition Collective, began the rally by saying, “We’re here to formally denounce the deplorable ideologies of white supremacy, white nationalism, and fascism that manifested into what happened in Charlottesville, Virginia last month.”

The organizers provided resources for people affected by either DACA or the current political environment in America such as the UMass Student Legal Services Office, the Center for Counseling and Psychological Health, and the Center for Education Policy and Advocacy.

The first speaker was Miriam Sernik from UMass Hillel House, a center of Jewish life on campus. Sernik told that crowd that words to describe how she was feeling were hard to find but pointed out a few poignant emotions- anger, disgust, disappointment, and fear. As a member of the Jewish community, Sernik said that the events of Charlottesville brought back memories of Nazi Germany to the older Jewish population.

“The same people who murdered my family and tried to eradicate my people have been emboldened to take their racist, anti-Semitic and hateful rhetoric out in the public,” Sernik said. Never having personally faced much overt anti-Semitism herself, Sernik was terrified upon hearing about the events in Virginia.

“Nazi Germany did not win,” she reminded the crowd, “and neither will the genocidal desires of the people who marched in Charlottesville.”

The next speaker was Gaëlle Rigaud from the Black Student Union. Rigaud spoke about the importance of active solidarity. “Solidarity is speaking out, it’s calling in. Solidarity is not neutral because this fight against the forces against us never has been,” Rigaud told the crowd. She reminded the crowd that solidarity is a stance that means action and in reference to this rally, it’s a stance against the hatred of Dreamers. Rigaud concluded her speech by saying that solidarity means, “never making a group feel like they have to fight alone.”

“Money for jobs and education, not for mass incarceration!”

Many other student groups were in attendance on Tuesday and read powerful speeches and pieces of poetry to the crowd. Also in attendance were members of the Muslim Students Association, the Graduate Employee Organization, the UMass Amherst Sanctuary Campus Movement, the Student Government Association, and the Center for Education Policy and Advocacy.

The event ended with an Open Mic opportunity for attendees.