Students challenge YAF to host event in public view
Pictures of chalkings that said "Speak English" and "Build The Wall" were hanging on a poster behind three students who faced a packed room Monday in the Union and issued an open challenge to members of Young Americans for Freedom to host their "Catch an Illegal Immigrant Day" at the rock on Farm Lane on Oct. 9.
Students from various campus organizations announced at a news conference they want the Young Americans for Freedom, or YAF, to have the event at a scheduled time and place so it is in front of the public.
Oct. 9, which is Columbus Day, is referred to by some campus groups as Indigenous Peoples Day.
Ezequiel Garcia, co-chairman of Culturas de las Razas Unidas, said it is important to have the event on Indigenous Peoples Day because YAF is talking about immigration.
"The indigenous peoples were the first people in this land," Garcia said. "It's their (YAF's) opinion to say who is illegal immigrants."
Garcia, a criminal justice senior, said Thursday morning he and other students saw the messages chalked on the sidewalk.
"I don't think there's any honor when a group of people send a message during the night," he said. "They did (the chalking) at night because they were afraid to do it during the day. That is why we had the press conference during the day. We are not afraid."
Kyle Bristow, chairman of YAF, said the group will most likely not hold "Catch an Illegal Immigrant Day" on Oct. 9. The international relations sophomore, who didn't attend the conference, added that the students trying to organize the event are making false accusations.
"The people who say that their feelings are hurt (by this event) are trying to warp this into an anti-immigration issue," he said. "They are trying to taint us as racists and bigots. They said that we are against immigration; it's not true. We are not racist, we are not bigots. We support legal immigration."
Lee June, vice president of student affairs and services, attended the news conference and commended the students for their efforts of resistance against YAF.
"They are not doing it in a way to demean or mock the other group," he said. "I see no educational value in YAF's activity."
Nobody should be hurt or feel targeted from the "Catch an Illegal Immigrant Day" event, Bristow said.
"If people are hurt by the truth, therefore we shouldn't be saying it, and that's not right," Bristow said. "'Catch an Illegal Immigrant Day' — that's just the tip of the iceberg. We are going to distribute posters, and we are going to do chalking. We haven't even started yet."
Other forms of protest against the YAF activities in Michigan will take place before Oct. 9. On Wednesday, a group of MSU students will head to the University of Michigan to join a protest against the U-M YAF chapter. They will be meeting in front of the Kellogg Center before leaving at 10 a.m.
Groups present at the press conference included students from the Chicano/Latino Studies Program, Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan (MEXA), North American Indigenous Student Organization (NAISO), and Black Student Alliance (BSA).
"(This is) an issue that affects us all as students. ," said Dominick Quinney, BSA president and family community services senior. "'Catch an Illegal Immigrant Day' is not addressing issues — it's making a mockery of the issue at hand."
State News writer Fredricka Paul contributed to this report.
Published on Tuesday, September 26, 2006