Los Angeles, CA – The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), the largest immigrant rights organization in California, calls on the Biden Administration, the Department of Justice, state governors, and university administrators to ensure that basic rights are respected for protesting students as demanded by the First Amendment at all public universities and by its spirit at their private counterparts. Additionally, due process must be followed by all campus officials and police throughout the nation as applied to student conduct and discipline during these tense times.
The following comments may be attributed to Angelica Salas, CHIRLA Executive Director:
“The recent clashes at campuses nationwide have seen officials at private universities hide behind constitutional excuses while ignoring their own traditions. But historical precedence for these types of demonstrations was set during the Vietnam War era and other critical moments in the Peace Movement. First Amendment rights are guaranteed by our Constitution at our public institutions to those peacefully seeking to petition their government to change policies related to the atrocities in Gaza and elsewhere. And there can be no justification for administrators at private institutions to violate their own codes of conduct and suppress free speech.
We stand against all sort of bigotry and hate, and we oppose all wars. Armed conflicts lead to indisputable loss of innocent lives, displacement of entire communities, forced mass migration, and dismantled societies that often take decades to rebuild. This is why we support peaceful protests calling for a cease fire in Gaza and the end to armed conflicts everywhere.
We are deeply concerned about the ongoing demonization of all protesters. The vast majority of students calling for the end of armed conflicts are our sons and daughters and just because they are publicly expressing their views in protest of U.S. foreign policy does not mean they are anything other than conscientious objectors. We are furthermore concerned about reports that students joining these protests are being harshly disciplined or expelled from their campus without due process.
We call on campus administrators to create viable opportunities for students to express their dissatisfaction without the fear that their educational opportunities will be curtailed. And campus officials should avoid knee-jerk reactions because of pressure from smear campaigns. Silencing student voices, by force or coercion, is never acceptable.
We have seen, right in our own backyard, how the University of Southern California is silencing their student valedictorian and arresting protesting students. At the same time, the University of California campuses are also enforcing more restrictive protest policies. All students, Jewish, Palestinian and others, whether they are protesting or not, feel completely unprotected. CHIRLA’s own California Dream Network members have been protesting, and we have been advising them on their rights so that they can make informed decisions about their activism.
At this critical moment in our nation’s history, it is imperative that we pause and remember how our nation responded to previous student protests lest we be prone to making the same awful, cruel, unconstitutional, and unlawful mistakes we promised we would avoid making again.”
