Above photo: San Jose students protest against visa revocations. Fight Back! News.
San Jose, CA – On April 9, around 60 San Jose State students and community members gathered by the campus’s Cesar Chavez arch to protest the recent revocation of student visas by the federal government. According to San Jose State University president Dr. Cynthia Teniente-Matson, 12 San Jose State University International students had their F-1 visas revoked. The revocations came as part of a wave of visa revocations by the federal government, most of which are student visas.
As soon as the news broke, the San Jose chapter of Students for a Democratic Society called an emergency action to put forward several demands: first, demanding that the SJSU administration put out a statement addressing the revocations; second, demanding that the administration guarantee the affected students would be able to complete their education despite the revocation; and third, that administration take steps to establish a rapid response network to alert students regarding ICE activity.
The morning of the action, the SJSU administration disseminated an email statement addressing the revocations, promising legal support for the affected students.
The action went underway at 1:15 p.m. SDS political organizer Romaine Charite led students in chanting, “We want justice you say how, condemn the revocations now!” and ”Admin, admin, where’s your spine? Your students’ lives are on the line!”
SDS President John Duroyan started off the program, stating, “Now is your opportunity to stand up and take material steps to protect your students. And whether you wish to or not, we will stand for ourselves! Inaction is not merely complicity; it is a self-indictment!” Duroyan continued, “And remember admin, that your actions should not end with a statement, we want deadlines, we want proof of the steps you’ve taken to protect us; we want results!”
Nikki Flower, a member of Students Against Mass Incarceration, stated, “Revoking student visas is a vile and blatant effort by Trump’s administration to criminalize, punish, silence and disappear student activists.” Flower their speech with a call to action, “Cynthia, admin, we are watching! And we will not sit by silently. Protect our mixed-status community members now!”
The program ended with students gathering around a table to write letters regarding their demands to SJSU President Cynthia Teniente-Matison, which will soon be physically delivered to her office.
The protest reflected long-standing anger held by students regarding SJSU administration’s general lack of activity around ICE and the Trump presidency’s attacks on immigrant students. While the statement and email put out by Teniente-Matison earlier that day satisfied at least one of those demands, organizers in SDS and other groups affirmed that they will continue to watch and evaluate as to whether SJSU administration can keep their promises and take proactive measures in meeting student expectations around immigrant issues, among many others.