Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at UCI held an “ALL OUT FOR PALESTINE, ALL OUT FOR VISA REVOCATIONS!” rally in response to President Donald Trump’s administration’s revocation of student visas and continued casualties in Gaza on April 8.
The group of around 70 individuals — including students, faculty and community members — gathered at the flagpoles at 2:30 p.m. holding signs that displayed statements such as “SUPPORT UNDOCUMENTED STUDENTS” and “WE ARE HUMANS TOO.” Protestors took breaks in between chants to listen to speakers and have discussions in smaller groups.
UCI Divest, SJP, Anakbayan at UCI, Resist US-Led War UCI and MEChA de UC Irvine organized the protest. A spokesperson for SJP who requested anonymity said the rally was a direct response to deportations and detainments happening across the country.
“It’s instilling fear upon the movement and the students who want to pursue academia, which is not right. And as a response, we are here to show that we keep [ourselves] safe as students,” the spokesperson told New University.
Though the exact number of UCI undergraduate and graduate students who had their F-1 visas terminated isn’t specified, UCI administration confirmed that its students were among those on campuses nationwide where students’ visas have been terminated under a federal government order. F-1 visas allow students born outside the U.S. to come to the states to study. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the state department has revoked 300 or more student visas of foreign-born students, many of which are due to their involvement in pro-Palestine activism.
The SJP spokesperson also criticized UCI Chancellor Howard Gillman for his delayed response to these revocations, claiming that SJP notified the community of the deporations before the chancellor.
“We only received a statement from Gillman yesterday and in the span of the weekend. In these days, many of the students who may be at risk are in moments of fear,” the spokesperson told New University. “They don’t know what to do and they have to rely on [the] administration when they have failed [us] this past weekend.”
Gillman sent an update to the school regarding student visa terminations and campus resources on April 7.
“Through ongoing [Student and Exchange Visitor Information System] monitoring, the campus has learned that a small number of current students and recent graduates on Optional Practical Training have been affected,” Gillman said in the statement. “The notices indicate that the individuals’ participation in the visa programs ended due to violations of the programs’ terms. While the numbers are fluid, none of the cases are connected to campus disciplinary processes.”
SEVIS is an information database for non-citizen students and can indicate visa termination.
Gillman added that they do not have knowledge of federal law enforcement on or near campus, and that university offices have directly contacted individuals impacted to provide guidance and support.
One of the faculty members at the rally was UCI lecturer Brook Haley, who attended in a cosplay of Gillman by donning UCI graduation regalia.
“I’m here as Chancellor Gillman to mock the way he mocked the organizers of the encampment last year during the negotiations, and I have appropriated his slogan that he signs his emails with: Fiat Lux. My version is Fiat Sux,” Haley told New University.
At 3:55 p.m., the rally walked to Aldrich Hall and stopped in front of the door, yelling, “Shame.” A speaker stood in front of the group calling for unity and transparency from the UCs.
“The UCs must be held accountable for their complicity. We have been misled into believing our basic needs being reinvested in are debatable, but they’re called needs for a reason,” the unidentified speaker said into a megaphone. “We deserve to feel safe in our learning spaces. We deserve to feel supported, seen and uplifted by our universities, and they should be investing in the future, which is us.”
Noosha Taghdiri is a News Staff Writer. She can be reached at taghdirn@uci.edu.
Edited by Logan Heine.