Group Of FIU Students Hope To Make Campus A Safe Haven For Illegal Immigrants
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – The concern for a group of students at Florida International University was simple: their future and the future their families might face when Donald Trump becomes president in January.
So, they marched out of class to make their point.
A mob of FIU students gathered at their student center, hoping to make their campus a safe haven for illegal immigrants.
"What we are asking is that universities do not willfully participate in the sharing of information of undocumented students," explained anti-Trump protester Tyler Allen. "That they do not discriminate against these students or they do not use E-Verify which would release their information."
Related: Students March To Make Homestead School A 'Sanctuary Campus'
Allen is one of hundreds of students throughout Miami-Dade participating in a nationally coordinated protest against president-elect Trump.
Their specific gripe: his stance on immigration, namely the deportation of millions of illegal immigrants.
Movimiento Cosecha is an immigrant rights activist group that organized Wednesday's events.
The group's message, as described in the group's Facebook page, is "to declare their campuses a #SanctuaryCampus and commit to putting our bodies between Trump and undocumented students."
"Sanctuary campus is a safe haven is for people who do feel disenfranchised and have been disenfranchised," said Alejandro Flores.
But the rally wasn't without opposition.
A small group of Trump supporters made sure they were heard too.
"There's illegal immigrants that are receiving government funding. They're receiving government grants to go to school," said a student only identified as Gabriel. "I don't think that's right I think it should go to the United States citizens."
According to a report released August 2015 by the Washington-based research organization Migration Policy Institute (MPI), there's an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States.
A total of 156,000 undocumented immigrants live in Miami-Dade County and Monroe County, with the majority residing in Miami-Dade.
Movimiento Cosecha is promoting what they call #SanctuaryCampus. It calls for universities and high schools to develop a protocol for their campuses that will allow them to serve as sanctuaries against deportation, discrimination, violence and racism.
Movimiento Cosecha plans on a number of other walkouts through the country until immigrants are protected in their schools.
