Hundreds attend IYSSE rallies to defend immigrant rights in New York and San Diego
By
our reporters
3 February 2017
Students and workers at San Diego State University (SDSU) and New York University (NYU) rallied Thursday afternoon to defend the rights of immigrants and refugees and to voice their opposition to the Wall on the Mexico border, the deportation of tens of thousands of undocumented workers, and the massive expansion of the border security force and internment camps.
The demonstrations were called by the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE). About 200 to 300 students attended the rally in San Diego, with about 40 participating in the rally in New York.
IYSSE leaders who spoke at the rallies provided an international socialist perspective, emphasizing that Trump’s attack on immigrants is part of an attack on the entire working class supported by both Democrats and Republicans. Speakers reviewed the danger of war, the terrible social conditions facing workers and youth and the need to break with the Democratic Party and build an independent party of the working class.
In San Diego, where there are many students who are immigrants or the children of immigrants, participants loudly applauded the call for the unity of workers of all races, ethnicities and nationalities.
Kevin Martinez, a member of the IYSSE and SEP addressed the crowd. “As we speak, countless families are being torn apart by Donald Trump’s vicious ban against immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries. Our club has spoken to students whose livelihoods are threatened with deportation, and I’m sure many here today on campus can share similar stories of heartbreak and tragedy.”
Martinez warned…