Students demand release of UC Berkeley student detained by ICE in Nov. 9 protest
Following ICE’s 45-day operation across California, students protested arrests and detention facilities across the state
By KHADEEJAH KHAN — campus@theaggie.org
Around 80 students and community members gathered at the Memorial Union’s South Patio for a demonstration on Nov. 9, protesting the detainment of UC Berkeley student Paula Albornoz Hernandez by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at San Francisco International Airport on Oct. 30.
The rally began at noon, with protestors chanting “No Justice, No Peace! We want ICE off our streets!” and “When immigrants are under attack? What do we do? Stand up, fight back!”
UC Davis’ protest was primarily organized by Students for Socialism, Party for Socialism and Liberation, Students for Justice in Palestine, Revolutionary Student Organization, Jewish Voice for Peace and the ASUCD Executive Office, among others.
“Students should feel safe going to class and learning,” the organizers wrote in an announcement. “ICE has no place in our education system or our country. We urge all UC Davis students to join us and support our demands to release Paula and abolish ICE.”
After group chants, student speakers delivered speeches. Jessie Rivera, a third-year political science major and president of Davis College Democrats, spoke about how their father was taken by ICE in May 2020 and how their family spent months fighting for his release.
“It did not matter that he was a father,” Rivera said. “It did not matter that he had children back at home. It did not matter that he spent years contributing to this country. To ICE, he was not seen as human.”
Rivera’s father was released in December of that year, but Rivera added that not all families experienced that same ending.
Organizers also spoke about how while the midterm election results offered hope, it’s still necessary to hold current officials accountable.
“Republican or Democrat, we are not scared,” the crowd chanted. “We will fight back.”
Caleb Swaby-Pierce, a third-year political science and economics double major, spoke about how this past year has been the deadliest year in ICE custody, with over 57 people dying in ICE custody since the start of Trump’s second term due to a lack of medical care, sanitation and understaffing.
“To the first-generation student with two hardworking immigrant parents who spends all of their days concerned for the safety of the very people who sacrifice everything for their success, to the international student, trying to build a future for themselves, who has to live in fear every day of being ripped out of their home — you are not alone in your fight,” Swaby-Pierce said. “Everyone here will stand right beside you until your battles have been won and to everyone here as well.”
Attendees also protested ICE’s 45-day operation across California. ICE was present in Davis on Nov. 5, when three people were arrested in Davis, West Sacramento and Dixon.
As the rally ended around 1:20 p.m., an organizer announced that a federal judge ordered for the release of Albornoz Hernandez.
“I also wanted to say with great relief that the Berkeley student who was detained by ICE has been released,” the organizer said. ”But the fight is far from over. And this is just one step in all the work we have to do to get ICE out of our communities, out of Davis, and to protect our students, to protect everyone in our community communities.”
United States District Judge Dena Coggin ruled that ICE violated her right to due process, granting her a habeas corpus petition and a temporary restraining order, according to The Daily Californian.
Danielle De La Pascua, an organizer with the Party for Socialism and Liberation, said that the present moment highlights the need for students and community members to look out for one another at a moment of heightened fear.
“It's not just about ICE out of Davis and out of Sacramento,” De La Pascua said. “We’re working for a free Palestine, against the war on Iran and for working people's lives to improve and stop the world of billionaires. Getting involved in organizing, you know, really is the answer to stopping all of those things.”
Written by: Khadeejah Khan — campus@theaggie.org