After the news of President Donald Trump allowing ICE agents to enter public schools around the country, Ramapo College’s Organization of Latino Unity (OLU) set up a table full of helpful information about immigration rights. This small event took place outside of the bookstore on Tuesday, Jan. 28 in the afternoon.
The table featured papers that contain resources to visit online, such as unitedwedream.org for legal protections and raicestexas.org for low-cost services for immigrants.
Small red cards were also being handed out by OLU members. One side included statements to say when being approached by ICE or police, while the other side listed constitutional rights in Spanish.
“The importance of staying educated and being informed about the current events and how they can not only affect a small group of people but multiple groups of people,” stated Jennifer Lopez, Vice President of OLU, when discussing the purpose of the tabling event.
Since Trump was sworn back into office a little over two weeks ago, he has updated many of the country’s policies regarding deportation and immigration.
Even back in 2024, Trump made deportation a major point in his re-election campaign, stating that his first day back in office would be “the largest deportation operation in American history.”
People are afraid to leave their houses and go to work to make a steady income for their families. The president of a farming industry in California, Casey Creamer, told CalMatters, “We’re in the middle of our citrus harvesting. This sent shockwaves through the entire community. People aren’t going to work and kids aren’t going to school. Yesterday about 25% of the workforce, today 75% didn’t show up.” Agriculture will be significantly affected in the future, including food inflation and shortages.
The tabling was held right after ICE agents were spotted in Newark and West New York in N.J., not too far from campus. The superintendent of an apartment building in the area told NBC New York that “federal agents went inside but left without seemingly taking anyone into custody.”
Newark’s mayor Ras Baraka stated that the agents that were seen in Newark looking for reported undocumented workers also detained U.S. citizens, including a military veteran.
From Jan. 23 to Jan. 29, it was reported that ICE made 5,537 arrests.
For information on upcoming events, you can visit OLU’s official Instagram account, olu.rcnj.
jcaramag@ramapo.edu
Featured photo by Julia Caramagna
