http://www.ucsdguardian.org/cgi-bin/new ... 6_05_04_01

Tritons Pepper Immigration Protests

By Charles Nguyen
News Editor


Hundreds of UCSD students, faculty and staff skipped their classes and jobs on May 1 to protest federal legislation that could harden statutes on illegal immigration.

The effort was a smaller part of a national movement — which was concentrated locally in San Ysidro, downtown San Diego and Balboa Park — against H.R. 4437, a bill that could make illegal immigration a felony. In recognition of the daylong boycott of work and store purchases, a handful of UCSD professors canceled their classes, with even more students opting to skip classes that were still in session.

Sixth College freshman Mauricio Moreno ditched his classes to march along the U.S.-Mexico border with thousands in support of the boycott. The bulk of the crowd moved along San Ysidro’s streets, flanked by police cars and cars honking in support.

“It’s just one day, and worth the sacrifice of missing class to fight for what’s right,” Moreno said.

Much of UCSD’s involvement in the San Ysidro protest consisted of lone students, with almost no efforts by organized groups. The campus’ Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán had trouble coordinating a large-scale group to attend the protests, according to Earl Warren College freshman Jamie Trinh, a MEChA member who rallied with other protestors near the border.

“People don’t want to come down here to realize that they’re not tucked away safe in La Jolla,” she said. “Students come down here to get into Mexico for clubbing and blow jobs then go back to their homes. Students don’t think about the people that cross the border just to live.”

Student apathy, she added, hurt MEChA’s ability to mobilize a campus effort in support of immigrants. Moreno echoed Trinh’s distaste for the campus’ weak presence, and said that none of the suitemates he invited attended the rallies.

“I always hear ‘this doesn’t affect me,’” Moreno said. “This doesn’t affect me directly either, but it is the cause that we should be fighting for and not our own personal interests.”

Local boycotts were large enough to slow some UCSD activities, despite the thin university presence at rallies. Groundwork Books closed on May 1, while the food co-op offered only free soup during store hours.

Some campus workers also took the day off. Although no estimate has been made on how many members of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees skipped work on May 1, the union supports “workers’ rights as immigrants’ rights,” according to Matias Marin, an organizer for the union’s local division.

“We did not encourage workers to leave, but we were definitely aware that May 1 was coming,” he said.

Officials for the union — which represents over 2,000 UCSD blue-collar workers — informed members of potential university sanctions, which range from verbal warnings to dismissals. Currently, campus AFSCME organizers are not aware of any punishments of employees for leaving work on May 1, according to Marin.

David Tooker, Wendy’s Price Center manager, said that two of his workers were absent on May 1. Although the lack of attendance hurt business, Tooker said he is still considering what punishments, if any, the employees will receive.

A handful of students made sure they attended classes as usual to show opposition to illegal immigration. On May 1, Students for Legal Immigration set up a table on Library Walk to support the federal bill.

“We want to see America’s identity preserved by flying one flag, educating in one language and singing our national anthem in its original language and form,” Thurgood Marshall College junior and SLI member Mitchell Murray stated in an e-mail.

The group’s stance on immigration, however, is the minority opinion on a largely liberal campus, according to Earl Warren College junior and SLI member Aaron Grey.

“People look at the signs on our tables and automatically predetermine that we’re ‘fascists,’ ‘hate mongers,’ ‘Nazis,’ but they never listen because of their extreme partisanship to the Democratic Party and the liberal cause,” Grey stated in an e-mail.

Readers can contact Charles Nguyen at charles_nguyen@sbcglobal.net.