Several hundred students and Arizona residents marched the path suspected illegal immigrants take after they are detained in protest of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s immigration policies on Friday.
“It’s a good way to educate people, to physically walk them there,” said Justine Garcia, an ASU alumni and former M.E.Ch.A de ASU co-chair. “We weren’t just yelling on the street, we were explaining what’s going on.”
The march was in conjunction with a three-day national conference for Movimiento Estudiantil Chican@ de Aztlán that included students from as far away as Idaho and Colorado.
“Arizona has been the center of attention,” said Jose Rios Lua, a member of M.E.Ch.A de ASU who assisted in organizing the conference. “We’re not going to stand by and watch Arpaio abuse his power.”
The protest began in Civic Space Park Friday afternoon with protesters first marching to Madison Street Jail, where suspected illegal immigrants are held when detained. The march then moved on to Arpaio’s downtown offices and to Immigration and Customs Enforcement offices, the federal agency responsible for enforcing border and immigration laws.
Protestors held signs that read “Students vs. Arpaio” and “End family separation now!” and chanted “Arrest Arpaio, not the people!”
Protesters also carried large puppets that depicted sheriffs arresting suspected illegal immigrants and a mother and child separated by deportation. The puppets were created by students and designed to tell the story of deportation in Arizona, according to Rios Lua.
“I’m tired of what Arpaio’s doing,” said Mayra Lozano, a social work junior at ASU. “We want to show everyone that undocumented workers and Latinos are being discriminated against.”
The conference itself drew students from over 112 universities to Phoenix, many of whom participated in the march on Friday.
“Even though our students were from out of state, they see that this issue could go to where they live,” said Garcia. “People are going to take this back to where they are from and educate each other.”
Contact the reporter at hailey.paquette@asu.edu
