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On Campus

Students, alumni march across Syracuse University campus to protest uncertain future of DACA

Jordan Muller | Asst. News Editor

Syracuse University community members protesting President Donald Trump's end to DACA marched across campus toward the Carrier Dome where many Syracuse fans were attending Saturday's football game.

By Jordan Muller, Sam OgozalekThe Daily Orange

UPDATED: Sept. 17, 2017 at 4:33 p.m. EST

“Education not deportation.”

“No hate, no fear, immigrants are welcome here.”

“The people united will never be divided.”

Those were among the chants about 60 protesters shouted as they marched across the Syracuse University campus just minutes before a football game kicked off in the Carrier Dome Saturday.



The marchers — students, alumni and community members — rallied to protest President Donald Trump’s decision earlier this month to phase out the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy.

A few carried makeshift signs made from paper and cardboard boxes. Some of the signs read: “Defend DACA,” “They are here to stay” and “Rad Hombre.”

Without the program, many fear DACA recipients will be deported.

DACA was introduced by former President Barack Obama in 2012. The program gave amnesty to undocumented immigrants who were brought into the United States as children.

Evelyn Angamarca, an SU student who attended the protest, is a DACA recipient herself, she said.

“My future relies on this,” Angamarca said. “I don’t even know if I’ll be able to finish college.”

The march began at Schine Student Center, passed near Hall of Languages and ended in front of the Life Sciences Complex. Several marchers knew friends or family directly affected by Trump’s plan to end the program.

Rally attendees also walked across the Quad near Hendricks Chapel before swinging toward the Dome. John Sardino, associate chief of the Department of Public Safety, followed closely behind.

The Dome’s concrete walls amplified chants. Football fans looked on with shocked facial expressions. One man had to be restrained by his family after running toward students shouting, “They can’t tell me what to do.”

Another man yelled expletives at the marchers before turning back to the Dome.

Daisy Carangui, a rally organizer, said she was initially frightened by some responses to the march.

“We’re kids … we’re not going directly at you,” said Carangui, a sophomore public health major.

Of the fans that reacted, though, most supported the protesters. Some clapped along with chants.

Isabella Leōn, a freshman from St. Helena, California, waited for the march to start under a tree near Schine. At about 3 p.m., only a handful of students were there. Leōn wondered if the event was canceled.

“Lucky for me I was born here. I’m documented. But, there’s so many people that can’t come out because they’re so scared,” said Leōn, a communication and rhetorical studies major. About one-third of Leōn’s family qualified for DACA benefits, she said.

Dozens of students flooded the promenade a few minutes later.


Nine student organizations participated in the event, including the Chicanas group and a local Coalition for Justice organization, said Andrea Roque, one of the rally’s organizers.

“Our parents, they weren’t raised on this land. We were. And we’re basically doing this for them,” said Melanie Salazar, a sophomore international relations and public policy dual major.

Some SU graduates, who were on campus Saturday for an event celebrating black and Latinx alumni of the university, joined the march.

Zulay Olivo, a New York City resident who graduated from SU in 2006, heard about the rally on Instagram. Olivo said it’s important to support students on campus affected by Trump’s decision to rescind DACA.

As the march ended, Jade Spark, an SU senior, said the protest had a bigger effect on people than she expected.

“There were a lot of mixed feelings about our march,” Spark said. “Even if they didn’t agree with it, it got them thinking.”

This story has been updated with appropriate style. 





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