ASU students, faculty protest to block ICE from campus: 11 photos

Several Arizona State University student and faculty groups are demanding that the school do more to prevent Immigration and Customs Enforcement from operating on campus, though it’s unclear to what extent ICE has already been doing so.

On Friday, demonstrators gathered at ASU’s Tempe campus to protest and call for more action from the university. The protesters — a mix of ASU students, staff, faculty and non-ASU community members — listened as a handful of speakers provided remarks.

“It is time we demand our leadership stand up and make the difficult decisions to protect its workers, protect its staff and its faculty,” said Dr. Raquel “Rockee” Armstrong, an ASU faculty member and current Democratic candidate for the Arizona Legislature.

The protest kicked off at Hayden Lawn at 11 a.m. About 50 protesters gathered at the height of the rally, which was organized by several ASU-affiliated groups, including United Campus Workers of Arizona, a union representing workers from several Arizona colleges.

UCWA has demanded that ASU “bar ICE from campus without official judicial warrants, stop providing ICE with student and worker immigration statuses, and facilitate accommodations and online learning for students who are deported or feel threatened with deportation.”

An ASU spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment and questions about ICE activity on campus. Phoenix New Times asked several attendees if they knew of ICE operations on campus of the type they were protesting, but no specific examples were provided. Nor did any of the event’s speakers reference specific ICE arrests or actions.

According to current ASU policy, if ICE agents arrive on campus, academic personnel are instructed to request a statement on the official’s purpose for accessing campus, call ASU Police or the Office of General Counsel and not provide access to non-public spaces. ASU does provide the visa status of students and exchange visitors it sponsors to ICE’s Student and Exchange Visitor System, which is required by federal law.

Vanessa Martinez, a cook at ASU’s Downtown Phoenix campus, told rallygoers that she “thought working in a university I would be safe” and that the school had “promised protections for their students and for their workers.” However, she added, “I do not feel safe.” 

Democratic state Rep. Brian Garcia referenced ASU’s much-ballyhooed “No. 1 in Innovation” tagline, adding that ASU “should also be unafraid to lead in this space.” State Sen. Lauren Kuby and state Rep. Junelle Cavero, both Democrats, also spoke.

Two ASU professors who spoke at the rally, Tricia Hepner and Richard Newhauser, also recently wrote an op-ed for New Times. In it, they said that “ASU has done little to help inform faculty, staff, students and their parents of their rights, let alone how to defend them,” blasting the school for offering “minimal guidance or support if members of our community are threatened with arrest and deportation.”

Following the speeches, at approximately 12:15 pm, demonstrators began marching through campus, chanting “Fuck ICE.” Protestors ended the march at the ASU Foundation. Circling the front of the building as they picketed, they chanted, “ICE off ASU” and “Are you listening, ASU?”

The protest fizzled out by 1 p.m.

Here are more photos from the protest.