The rally was put on through the collaboration of the Persian Student Association, the Graduate Employees Union and the Office for International Students and Scholars.

Speakers at the event included Sen. Curtis Hertel, Jr. (D-East Lansing), Lansing City Council member Kathie Dunbar and Director of the Office for International Students and Scholars James Dorsett among others.

“I think my community is great because we have people from all over the world here,” Hertel said. “The idea that we are limiting people from other countries, the idea that we are limiting people who have invested so much in our community is disgusting, it’s unAmerican and we need to stand up against it as a community. And that’s why I’m here.”

The rally was emceed by graduate student Sara Bijani, who was one of the organizers of the event. She said the event was created to support students.

“We realized that the conversations that were happening on the national level and on the local level are focusing on many categories of people, but they don’t tend to include students," Bijani said. "Students are really heavily impacted by these new immigration rules, so we wanted to make sure that their voices were out there and available and they felt that people were listening.”

The rally at the Rock was part of a nationwide series of campus demonstrations by Academics United that were all held simultaneously, the event's Facebook page said. The main message these rallies hoped to demonstrate was a widespread support for immigrants, international visitors and refugees in the campus and surrounding communities.

Ali, a doctoral student at MSU who immigrated from Iran, was among those who attended the event. He said there are a lot of Iranians in the United States who are smart and good people, people who are not a threat. 

“The people of Iran are educated, they spend their lives doing research trying to become doctors, engineers, scientists, professors. We are not harmful,” Ali said. “This executive order makes me feel like everything I did as an engineer and scientist is neglected and disrespected."

Ali also discussed the difficulty of seeing his family and said it's impossible. 

“I have brothers and sisters and nieces and nephews," Ali said. "I haven’t seen my father in four years. I was actually planning a trip to see my father but that opportunity is now gone."

While Bijani is not directly affected by the executive order on immigration or the F1 visa, she has many close friends who might not remain in the United States for long, she said.

“Some people are dealing with some type of family trauma ... and they want to be with their family and it’s completely impossible at this point," she said. "Some people are finishing their doctoral programs and had lined up continuing work status. At this point it’s unclear how those will be processed."

The effort to support non-citizen scholars continues on the MSU Academics United Twitter and through the hashtag #hearus. It's also a platform for further discussion. Bijani said there is a lot of confusion about what the immigration executive order and the F1 visa means for students.

"A lot people are just really not sure what their next step is," she said. “Everyone is just really confused. Everyone is just really, really confused about what is going on right now and they feel that it impacts them but they’re honestly not even sure how.”