Hundreds of protestors came together in solidarity to advocate for immigrant rights on the University of California, Riverside’s (UCR) campus on Feb. 3, 2025. Plans for organization regarding the protest circulated on various social media platforms such as Reddit and Snapchat days before the event, and ended up garnering enough attention for various students to show up in support.
The protest sparked up with an opening statement in which a few dozen people rallied, “Say it loud, say it clear! Immigrants are welcome here!” Various individuals held up signs with statements such as “Viva la Raza!” and “School is for Education not Deportation.” The crowd then departed to go around campus and continue gathering support for their cause.
As they made their rounds around the Highlander Union Building (HUB), Hinderaker Hall, the front of the Student Success Center (SSC) and even back towards Life Sciences, students would pop their heads out of classes and join in on the protest. Various organizations independent of the protest also came in support. One such organization gathered signatures for a “Petition to Fair and Just Immigration,” in which they “urge[d] all UCR academic faculty to uphold the demands, or therefore negotiate with representatives, on behalf of students here in UCR for greater protections urging California leaders, and pressuring Senate and House representatives to hear the UC student’s demands.”
With the protest being an entirely community-based effort, there was no singular organization or individual arranging the event. Rather, various people took initiative at different parts of the protest to lead and guide the crowd in their chants and mission of spreading awareness to UCR’s community about issues that the nation is facing in regards to immigration. During the duration of the protest, student representatives and leaders from Movimiento Estudiantil Chicanx de Aztlan (MECHA), Providing Opportunities, Dreams, and Education in Riverside (PODER) and Associated Students of UCR (ASUCR) External were present. These representatives guided the crowd along to ensure they adhered to UCR’s policies and to make sure the protest would not get shut down.
As the protest came to a close, the crowd congregated around the Bell Tower for closing remarks. One student representative shared, “We want to thank y’all for coming out. We appreciate your collaboration in this movimiento again. We want to make it clear that we did not organize this y’all did.”
Leah, one of the individuals who stepped up during the protest, took the time to remind the crowd that “[this is] just the start! This better not be the end.” She further remarked, “I love seeing everybody here” and she urged everyone to remember “what you’re protesting for.”
One of the main points that was repeated throughout the entirety of the protest is that people were not out there fighting only for themselves, but also for those around them and their families. Another speaker towards the end of the protest exclaimed, “This country doesn’t promise the American dream I believe in” and that “America was built on the back of immigrants.” The final speaker concluded the gathering by reminding the crowd to “show them who the real patriots are.”
Before dispersing for the day, one last chant echoed throughout the gathering space, with a small group of students leading it in the center asking, “Who is the resistancia?” and the crowd responded with “We are the resistancia!” At the end of the protest, part of the group continued to the front of the UC Police Department in order to peacefully hold up signs and spread awareness to those driving past the front of campus.
Levi, a first-year pre-business major, came out to the protest for a multitude of reasons. They shared, “I have a lot of friends who are supporting this and I have relatives who have gone through stuff regarding this, so I wanted to come out and support. I think undocumented students deserve the right to be here, they came out here for a chance, and they deserve that chance. Just because someone’s bias and discrimination comes into play, that doesn’t mean that they don’t deserve an equal chance.”
Another anonymous student shared that they were out protesting in representation of their “undocumented, hard-working parents.” They shared that their parents immigrated to the United States gave them the chance to come study at college, and that they are spreading the word for undocumented rights in place of those who are unable to do so themselves.
