Several events surrounding immigrant rights and community advocacy will be held at UC Santa Barbara next week. Hosted by Associated Students, university departments and local organizations, the week of programming aims to provide the community with tangible action items and resources.
The 805UndocuFund hosted a rapid response training last quarter. Alexia Calderon / Daily Nexus
According to fourth-year sociology major and Student Advocate General Sydney Bivins, the idea behind “Protect Your Peers” is that immigrant rights affect and encompass many communities. Community members who are undocumented, from mixed-status families, international or otherwise concerned for those in their community are impacted by recent escalations in immigration enforcement.
“All are welcome. So students, faculty, staff, community members, everyone’s welcome regardless of immigration status, regardless of how much you know about the topic,” Bivins said. “If you know nothing, if you even disagree with things we might be saying, you’re welcome to learn more. We do have a responsibility to look out for each other, to protect our peers.”
Events include Immigration and Customs Enforcement (I.C.E.) rapid response training, a legal resource workshop, a town hall and a teach-in about the history of immigration in the United States. Specific dates, times and locations can be found on the Associated Students (A.S.) president’s Instagram. According to Bivins, security will be present at some of the events and recordings will be made available afterward for those who prefer not to attend in person.
Legal resource workshops and rapid response trainings have been held previously. However, the unconfirmed federal agent who inquired about an international student at Santa Catalina Residence Hall last quarter sparked A.S. and community members to consider an I.C.E. alert system and additional resources. After learning about local organization 805Undocufund’s rapid response network, A.S. President Le Anh Metzger said A.S reached out for further collaboration.
“We held rapid response training last quarter, and it went super well. We had a great turnout,” fourth-year global studies, communication and Spanish triple major Metzger said. “We wanted to do a whole week of events this quarter around ‘Protect Your Peers’ to build momentum and just have more engagement around it.”
Next week’s rapid response training will be expanded by inviting attendees to place flyers about the network around campus and Isla Vista.
All events will have catering or snacks, including burritos, hot chocolate and conchas. Bivins highlighted concerns people may have regarding immigration enforcement and how these events serve as actions that community members can take to protect themselves and those around them.
“What we’ve seen across the country is people being profiled by I.C.E. regardless of whether or not they’re a citizen, and that definitely has factored into people’s anxiety on campus,” Bivins said. “As a campus, if we can unite, if we’re all educated on this issue, on our rights, it makes it so the burden is not just on the people that are scared for their lives.”
Other participating entities include the Office of International Students & Scholars, Undocumented Student Services and Unión del Barrio, among others.
