Tampa demands sanctuary campus, clean DREAM Act

Tampa, FL – Student activists gathered Feb. 12 to demand the University of South Florida administration make USF a sanctuary campus and push local Representative Kathy Castor to support a Clean Dream Act in Congress. The event was hosted by Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and featured several speakers. Some of the topics addressed included why people immigrate here, Trump’s attacks on the undocumented and Muslim communities, and how to make USF a sanctuary campus. Students stopped to listen to speeches and join in the chanting.

SDS activist Will Blake spoke on why people leave their homelands. “In many cases, we are responsible for those immigrating. They are fleeing many of our invasions, they’re fleeing our war on drugs, our assassinations, our coup d’etats.”

Tampa Bay SDS’s current campaign is to make USF a sanctuary campus. Tampa Bay SDS is specifically demanding: legal support for undocumented and Muslim students, non-cooperation with ICE and DHS, and a refusal to give out personal information to these government agencies.

Tampa Bay SDS will continue the fight for undocumented and Muslim students on campus and will be hosting another protest March 5; Trump’s deadline for DACA.