On Wednesday, Jan. 31 at 11:00 a.m., Providing Opportunities, Dreams and Education in Riverside (PODER) dropped a banner in the Highlander Union Building (HUB) reading “4000+ UNDOCU Students Barred From EMPLOYMENT #O4ALL.” The banner drop, in addition to their protest, was a response to the Regent’s meeting on Jan. 25 where they suspended Regents Policy 4407: Policy on Equitable Student Employment Opportunities for one year. The policy would have allowed undocumented students to access equal university employment opportunities regardless of federal work authorization status.
A few of PODER’s members, including their Treasurer, Mario Arce Acosta, and Co-President, Emmanuel Aguilar-Ampudia, stood on the third floor of the HUB above the banner with megaphones. Aguilar-Ampudia addressed students who had gathered before the Chicano Student Programs (CSP) office and criticized what they characterized as Chancellor Kim A. Wilcox’s lack of action regarding the Opportunity for All (OFA) campaign. “I have sent multiple emails on the [Opportunity for All] campaign [to] ask for support. We still feel unheard. We do not have justice.”
Maria Hernandez Brambila, Co-President of PODER, joined her cohorts on the third floor of the HUB and announced that during their trip to the Regents meeting in San Francisco on Jan. 25, PODER members were unable to speak during public comment. Melissa Castilla, a member of OFA’s internal workgroup, proceeded to deliver her speech that she had prepared for public comment. “We’re not seeking special treatment. [We are seeking] basic human rights and [equal] opportunities,” she announced through the megaphone.
Downstairs in front of CSP, a PODER member led chants that the organization had created for the OFA campaign. Students continuously joined the protest and its chants. Several of these chants included the names of students affected by the suspension of Regents Policy 4407.
An hour later, PODER moved their protest to Hinderaker Hall where the Young Democratic Socialists of America at UC Riverside (YDSA) were delivering a petition to Chancellor Wilcox. For more information about this event, flip to page four. A few members from Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) also joined in for the protest, and directed their chants, along with PODER and YDSA, toward Chancellor Wilcox’s office. Several of their chants consisted of, “If we don’t get it, shut it down” and “From Palestine to Mexico, all the walls have to go.”
In between these chants, Vice President of External Affairs, Ángel Rentería, was also given the space to share his support of OFA, personal experiences and frustrations. “‘The undocumented community is under attack. The UC wants to see us divided. ‘No nos vamos a dejar’ [We are not going to let them],” he announced.
Arezoo Nickroo, a fourth-year sociology major, commented on the reason she attended the protest. “I was out there today with Mujeres Unidas … I was there today, not only in solidarity with my group but also because I see [how] it’s unfair that people [who are] hardworking, [who are] coming to this country [and] sacrifice everything, [are] told that they can’t get employment opportunities.”
Third-year public policy student, Angélica Bustos, also spoke about her thoughts regarding the effect undocumented students may have with Regents Policy 4407 being suspended. “They’re already attending here. They’re already taking their classes here. They’re working, if they [can], in fellowships and other things … but it’s really sad that they’re not able to work here and actually put what they’re learning [in] the institution [out] into the real world.”
In the protest’s final minutes, Aguilar-Ampudia bent down on his knee, and many crowd members followed in pursuit. “They do not deserve our tears. They do not deserve our pity,” he said about the Regents and UCR administration. As the protest ended, the crowd and PODER shouted boos towards Hinderaker Hall.
