Culturas de la Raza Unidas, or Cru MSU, led "Para La Raza", an immigrant solidarity march on March 13. The march begun at The Hannah Administration Building and ended at the Multicultural Center.
In response to the Trump administration's crackdown on immigration, MSU students and organizers held a march Thursday afternoon to voice their dissent.
The "Para La Raza" march was organized by Culturas De Las Razas Unidas to demonstrate solidarity with immigrants across the United States and to voice concerns about ongoing detentions and deportations. Students and participants gathered at the Hannah Administration Building just before the march began.
Student organizations such as the Black Students Alliance and the Hurriya Coalition were also present at the march, offering their support to CRU.
Criminal justice senior Missy Chola, BSA’s co-political affairs director, said the actions taken by the Trump administration have left many students and other BSA members scared.
"I'm an international student, so a lot of these different laws have been pretty difficult for me to fully grasp," Chola said. "I think right now we're more focused on giving the best support to prove that we can. We realize that even though it is a much larger issue, it is something that impacts this community directly in multiple ways."
CRU President Nochelle Calderon expressed her disappointment in the Trump administration’s actions toward immigration but said she was not surprised.
"I think based off of last his last term, I did see this kind of coming, but that doesn't mean that I'm not just as disappointed or sad and disheartened by all of the rhetoric that's being placed on the immigrant communities and just in general," said Calderon, a marketing senior.
CRU started planning the march as the organization saw that members of their community were pushing for the organization to address recent actions taken by the federal government, Calderon said.
"I hope that all of it comes to fruition today, and that it's a good march and that people feel happy and represented afterwards," Calderon said. "My personal hopes would be just that the students feel like we've done something here today and that we represented in the way that they have been asking us to represent them."
Hospitality business senior Nyla Hernandez described some of the actions led by Trump as "chaotic" and added that CRU is offering resources and a space to students impacted. Last month, for example, CRU co-sponsored a Know Your Rights event held by Michigan’s United Farm Workers Foundation on campus.
"You have people on campus that want to take care of you, even though you don't feel like it's coming from the administration that's supposed to be taking care of you," said Hernandez, CRU’s historian.
Planning for the march began shortly after mass deportations occurred nationwide, Hernandez said. Preparation included collaboration with university officials to ensure they had permission to hold a march and that it was carried out in a safe and calm manner.
University leaders who were present during the march were Student Life and Engagement’s Assistant Vice President for Student Development Allyn Shaw and Assistant Vice President for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Genyne Royal.
Many students and participants who showed up for the march held signs reading "Family belongs together," "You can’t love the culture and not support the people," and "Focus on education not deportation."
Hernandez said her hope for the march is to make sure that students and anyone else knows that they have rights and are protected by those rights.
"We want to make sure that they're essentially safe and their family members are safe if they are undocumented," Hernandez said. "I always want to make sure people are comfortable, and I want to make sure that they're as comfortable with us as possible, even if you're not Hispanic or Latino."
Participants marched toward the recently opened Multicultural Center chanting "Love not hate makes America great." When they arrived at the center, some students already in the building joined in the chanting.
There, organizers held a town hall to discuss what to do if an individual encounters Immigration and Customs Enforcement and share resources and support available to impacted students.
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They also gave their fellow students words of advice. Calderon said that because media coverage may be overwhelming, it’s important that students "take a moment for yourself to breathe."
Hernandez encouraged students to know that they’re not alone and that CRU supports them.
"Know your rights as a person on this earth and in this country," Hernandez said. "You have your rights and it's important to do the research and to know what you can do and what you can do to protect yourself and your family."
Chola similarly encouraged students to know that it’s okay to experience any emotions they’re feeling and that the organization will offer them the support they need.
"Our door is always open, we are on the second floor of the Multicultural Center," Chola said. "If you want to talk, our Instagram is always open. We have our e-board posted on our Instagram, so you can always reach out to any one of us individually, but we're here. We got you guys."
