Emory University students and alumni joined together in a campus rally at Emory Student Center Plaza on Monday in response to a student and three alumni having their visas revoked last week.
One Emory student and three alumni had their immigration records terminated from the federal Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), which is a part of President Donald Trump’s administration, having revoked over 300 visas of international college students nationwide in recent weeks.
To learn more about Emory’s recent student and alumni visa revocations, click here.
According to an AJC article, five international students and two alumni in Georgia who had their visas revoked have filed a lawsuit against the federal government stating that they illegally terminated their immigration records.
While protesting these visa revocations at Emory, the rally supported Palestine and Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University activist who was arrested in March by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement despite having a student visa.
Around 50 to 60 students and community members participated in the rally on the staircase outside of Emory Student Center. The demonstrators slowly built around the plaza at 2:20 p.m. and speeches began at 2:45 p.m.
Several student groups, including Emory Students for Socialism and Students for Justice in Palestine, helped organize the rally. Multiple activists voiced their concerns and led rally chants with megaphones.
“A student and three alumni have had their visas revoked suddenly, without warning and with no clear explanation,” speaker Tasfia Jahangir said during a speech. “We still don’t know why these individuals were targeted. There’s been no justification, no due process and no accountability.”
Tasfia Jahangir, an Emory student and Emory’s Students for Socialism member, hopes that Emory will protect students. She also spoke on “fear culture” that is forming as a result of these federal actions.
“By organizing actions like this, we want to kind of assuage some of the fear culture that’s arisen from all these recent actions by the [Trump administration]…” Jahangir said in an interview with Decaturish. “ … There’s power in numbers. We should organize, we should mobilize and we should stick together.”
Zachary Hammond, a senior Emory student and co-leader of Emory’s Students for Socialism, helped organize the rally and wanted to show that these visa revocations have the Emory student community “shocked and enraged.”
“We hope that Emory will try to take more action to protect international students and students with visas,” Hammond said. “We hope that we inspire and continue the student movement for Palestine that’s been fighting for more than a year and a half now.”
At 3 p.m., the rally became a march across Emory’s campus, leading demonstrators to the university’s quad and back to the Emory Student Center. As the march passed through, many bystanders stopped to watch, and a few cheered along in support.
Emory Ph.D. graduate student David Meer was among the student demonstrators at the rally. Meer was one of 28 people, including 20 from the Emory community, arrested last April during a pro-Palestine protest on Emory’s campus.
Meer said demonstrators are looking for change and also more student protection from Emory, including a decision to refuse U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to enter university grounds without a warrant.
“One big quote I hear all the time is that the silence from Emory around international students has been deafening, and that’s exactly true,” Meer said. “They have done nothing except tell everyone that people have had their SEVIS terminated, which provides us no information, and it just spreads fear.”
The rally concluded at 3:40 p.m., and there was no police presence during the rally and march. Emory faculty members stood beside the demonstrators during their march to monitor the situation.
This story was provided by WABE content partner Decaturish.
