The Student Liberation Movement (SLM) was backed by scores of Dickinson students and staff when the organization staged a protest on Britton Plaza in solidarity with those affected by President Donald Trump’s order to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

The program was originally created in 2012 by former President Barack Obama to protect undocumented immigrants who entered the United States during childhood from deportation.

Members of SLM marched on Britton Plaza at noon on Thursday, Sept. 7, stopping to sit around and place a graduation cap on the college seal. The cap was symbolic of the 800,000 students affected by the DACA ruling, as indicated by the SLM Facebook page.

President Margee Ensign stated of the event, “I was proud of them for standing up for the things they believe in…I’m equally proud of what they did on Friday because it’s action that’ll make change. That’s why we were founded, to be engaged citizens.”

Members of SLM and fellow protesters, including Ensign, spoke in turn during the protest, criticizing Trump’s announcement. Some also shared personal stories of the positive impacts of DACA.

Kevin Ssonko ’20 was one such speaker, criticizing the world and this generation that has grown “apathetic to the lives and the conditions of those who exist in the same room as them.” He also asserted that “800,000 people have now had violence committed against them.” Ssonko ended his speech with a hope that these victims will “seek justice deserved.”

Following the testimonies, demonstrators rose with a mantra of “I stand with DACA.” Afterward, some students dispersed while others stuck around to exchange words of encouragement in a display of unity.

Lyndie Duich ’20, who also spoke at the protest, shared afterward how the DACA ruling personally affected her. “I know a lot of people who came through DACA’s program as young children, and when they announced this on Tuesday, I immediately got phone calls from them. They were sobbing, they were scared.”

The following day, SLM hosted a letter writing campaign on Britton Plaza, again with the symbolic graduation cap placed on the college seal.  Students and staff wrote letters and made calls to their congressional representatives, both in Pennsylvania and in their home states, urging support of DACA.

Noah Frank ’20, wrote to Congress and was highly confident that these types of events will have a strong impact. “I am confident that this can, especially if it’s replicated across the country, have a noticeable impact because these days, especially with technology, people don’t really get, in Congress, handwritten letters,” he said. The two-hour event saw many people in attendance, with the writing tables full of community members nearly the entire time.

Over both events, personal stories of friends and family directly affected by the DACA ruling stood at the forefront of many students’ minds. Jacqueline Amezcua ’19 is from Los Angeles and attended high school with students under DACA protection. “DACA was just another way of getting there. No one was ever like, ‘You can’t do this process because you’re undocumented.’ No, it’s just that we’re all going to do this process, but just yours is going to look a little different.”

Student organizers from SLM did not wish to comment.

Rachel Sanders ’20 contributed to the reporting of this article.