Hundreds march on Buffalo ICE office demanding: ‘Hands off our students!’

Buffalo, New York

A large group of demonstrators marched on the Buffalo ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs) office, which is discreetly located inside of a downtown office building, on April 19. Led by the student groups — State University of New York Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions, Communist Student League and University at Buffalo Young Democratic Socialists of America — as well as the American Party of Labor and Workers World Party, they left from Niagara Square after the conclusion of the “We the People” rally, which began hours before.

Outside the building housing the ICE office, protesters raised demands, such as “Abolish ICE!” “Hands off our students!” and “End the Genocide in Gaza!” Speakers from the various organizations in attendance as well as community members called for a renewed fight against capitalism and against the racist anti-immigrant policies carried out by both Republican and Democratic administrations.

The Communist Student League, UB YDSA and SUNY BDS have been circulating a petition in support of international students targeted by the government and by universities, who enable state violence. It reads in part:

“It is not a coincidence that the first immigrant students targeted are those who spoke out against the ongoing Zionist genocide of the Palestinian people. Political prisoners like Mahmoud Khalil, Alireza Doroudi, Rümeysa Öztürk, Badar Khan Suri and Leeqa Kordia are just a few of the many student activists targeted for their defense of Palestine. These violations of so-called ‘free speech’ are clearly an effort to scare and silence any political opposition to US imperialism and genocide in Palestine or anywhere else in the world. We will not be silenced.”

The full petition statement including the demands is at tinyurl.com/2hfcpee9.