This post was updated April 8 11:17 p.m.

Hundreds of protesters halted traffic for over 10 minutes Tuesday at the intersection of Wilshire Boulevard and Veteran Avenue while rallying against the Trump administration’s cuts to health care and science funding.

The event – hosted by United Auto Workers Local 4811, which represents academic student employees, graduate student researchers and academic and postdoctoral researchers – was part of a national day of action in response to research cuts. Union members and students attended the rally, which began at noon in Bruin Plaza with a speech from Elisa Pabon, a postdoctoral researcher in the department of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences. 

Sydney Campbell, a postdoctoral researcher at UCLA, said the rally was a response to the federal funding cuts to the National Institutes of Health. These cuts have affected research related to AIDS and infectious diseases, she added. 

One guideline created by the Trump administration limits indirect costs for NIH grants – which cover administrative expenses such as lab equipment and office space – to a maximum of 15%.

Cole Peters, a postdoctoral scholar in pediatrics, said in addition to the NIH cuts, Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed a nearly $400 million budget cut to the UC system, which could lead to job losses, salary reductions and higher undergraduate tuition.

[Related: UC faces over $270M in proposed budget cuts, threatening personnel and programs]

Peters said the economy is dependent on research conducted at UCLA, adding that even though the cuts started off in Washington, D.C., they will trickle down to affect people locally.  

“We need people who aren’t postdocs and scientists to realize how important it is to keep UC funding,” Peters said. “It’s going to destroy the rigor, prestige of the UC, and California needs that because that’s what draws a lot of people to the state itself.”

Campbell, who is also a head steward at UAW Local 4811, said the demonstrations across the country were organized by grassroots coalitions of UAW workers in different locations.

“We also have been in contact with folks at other universities that don’t have union representation, and they helped them to organize their own events,” Campbell said. “It’s been a lot of time and effort from everybody here.”

Protesters held signs reading, “Science Makes America Great,” and, “Hands off DEI,” while chanting, “When health care is under attack, what do we do? Stand up. Fight back.” 

Brett Hu, a member of UAW Local 4811 and graduate student in communications, said although his department was not specifically affected by these cuts, he believes the Trump administration is ending lifesaving research. 

Pabon added that with the funding for her research ending in August, she believes it is essential to be an advocate and put pressure on policymakers to restore grants.

Pabon also said fewer researchers will mean there are fewer available teaching assistants – impacting undergraduate instruction.

Pabon added that those protesting hope to advocate on behalf of international students whose visas were recently revoked. The UC Office of the President announced Friday that several students across the University had their visas revoked by the Trump administration.

Chancellor Julio Frenk confirmed in a Sunday campuswide email that the visa revocations impacted UCLA students. 

“We’re reaching out with our union to the university to ask them to essentially speak and explain these visa revocations and announce why they were revoked,” Pabon said. “It’s just another sort of scare tactic to use against anyone who is afraid that if they use their voice to be heard, that they’re going to be detained or taken away.”

[Related: Trump administration revokes visas of multiple UCLA, UC students]

Hu said the union was hoping to uplift the voices of international students who most likely chose not to attend the protest out of fear of recent visa revocations.

“They might not have ever said anything political, but it could be used as a pretext for them to be deported for no reason other than they were working on research.” Hu said.

At 12:25 p.m., protesters chanted, “Out of the classroom, into the streets,” as they marched toward the Wilshire Federal Building. 

At 1 p.m., the protesters marched in a circle, blocking all four sides of the intersection of Wilshire Boulevard and Veteran Avenue. Five LAPD cars were present to monitor the demonstration. 

The rally concluded at 1:30 p.m., with Pabon encouraging attendees to send a message to their policymakers to “kill the cuts.” 

Hu said the rally overall was a reaction to the Trump administration’s attempts to undermine unions across the country.

“If you kill these cuts, you ensure that the United States will stay at the top of research and be the head of essentially the leading researcher in the world,” Pabon said. “We’ll weaken our workforce significantly, and we’ll close off journeys and pathways for hundreds and thousands of people.”