Protests accompany Hillary Clinton’s visit to UCLA

Several student groups protested Wednesday afternoon during Hillary Clinton’s visit to UCLA to express dissatisfaction with the treatment of minority groups on campus and across the nation.

Clinton spoke as part of the Luskin Lecture for Thought Leadership series – high-profile lectures sponsored by Meyer and Renee Luskin that are held to fundraise for the university.

In front of Kerckhoff Hall along Bruin Walk, undocumented students represented by Improving Dreams, Equality, Access, and Success, or IDEAS, called for an end to deportation of undocumented individuals.

Students for Justice in Palestine joined with IDEAS and other communities to speak against unequal treatment of minority groups, said Dana Saifan, president of the Students for Justice in Palestine and a fourth-year psychology student.

“We demand an end to the silencing of underrepresented groups and the continuous hate crimes on campus,” Saifan said.

Palestinian students protested in response to last week’s Undergraduate Student Associations Council’s vote down on a resolution calling for the University of California to withdraw its investments from companies that profit from human rights violations in the West Bank and Gaza.

Closer to home, Denise Panaligan, internal representative of IDEAS and a third-year economics and Asian American studies student, said undocumented individuals, including family members of UCLA students, continue to face deportation under the Obama administration.

“We want to hold the Obama administration accountable for the promises that they have made to our undocumented community for a pathway to citizenship,” said Seth Ronquillo, co-chair of IDEAS, a fourth-year film and linguistics student and a former Daily Bruin columnist.

Eleven students lay across Bruin Walk, holding up signs against deportation, with their arms linked by a paper chain. They represented 11 million undocumented individuals in the country, said Panaligan.

The rally is part of a weeklong National Coming Out of the Shadows campaign organized by IDEAS to celebrate resilience within the undocumented community and to share struggles that undocumented students and families face under the current immigration system.

Although Clinton may not have had direct involvement in the issues students are protesting, she remains a representative of the Democratic party and the Obama administration, Panaligan said.

Panaligan said IDEAS hopes to pressure Clinton to push for immigration reform, in the event that she runs for president in the future.

During Clinton’s speech, Student Collective Against Labor Exploitation, or SCALE, joined workers from the UC’s largest union in front of Royce Hall to protest against alleged unfair labor practices by the UC.

About twenty patient care workers from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees local 3299 picketed in front of Royce Hall, calling for the UC to provide safe staffing levels.

The University and AFSCME are currently negotiating a contract for its about 13,000 patient care workers. AFSCME announced Tuesday it will hold another strike authorization vote next week to protest what it alleges as the UC’s proposal to conduct any number of layoffs for emergency measures. The University has said it will not comment on collective bargaining details because doing so might detract from the bargaining process.

Sarah Dahnke, a second-year global studies student and a member of SCALE, said workers have formed a symbolic line in solidarity against unfair labor practices, and urge Clinton, who they believe is a progressive politician, to support their stand.

Last week, the UC and AFSCME reached a tentative agreement for its about 8,300 service workers after more than a year of negotiations. A five-day strike scheduled to happen this week was called off Thursday as a result.

“People are disappointed that Clinton has gone astray from us. But this is primarily about the university,” said Liz Perlman, executive director for the union.

Some students waiting in line to attend Clinton’s lecture said they thought the protests were an unnecessary distraction.

Thomas Murray, a fourth-year political science student who witnessed the protest while waiting in line to enter the lecture, said the protest gave him a different perspective and said it was good that workers were exercising their right to voice their opinions.

Organizers of the lecture declined to comment.