Around 60 students, faculty and other community members attended a UCLA Faculty Association rally to protest against the Trump administration’s revocation of student visas.

The Trump administration recently revoked the visas of at least 19 UCLA students and alumni, including some participating in the Optional Practical Training program. Nearly 1,000 students or recent alumni in the United States have had their visas revoked, according to Inside Higher Ed.

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

Following the rally, about 10 faculty and students attempted to deliver a petition to Chancellor Julio Frenk calling for greater action from the UC. The petition, written by the Council of UC Faculty Associations, was signed by 983 people at the time of the rally.

Demonstrators attempted to enter Murphy Hall around 1 p.m. to hand-deliver the petition to Frenk’s office but were stopped outside by UCPD and Contemporary Services Corporation security guards, who also blocked the protesters from side and back entrances.

UCPD also prevented students not affiliated with the rally from entering the building at that time.

The petition demanded increased action from the University to protect international students, calling for legal assistance for students whose visas were revoked. It also called for the UC to continue stipends, salaries and enrollment for those who have their visas revoked.

The petition also called for UCLA to provide ways for students to complete their education and research even after their visas are revoked.

Speakers criticized the federal government’s alleged attempts to suppress free speech and academic freedom on campus.

“We all must stand firmly in defense of our constitutional rights to free speech; to due process; to the values of justice, fairness, equity and compassion,” said Aradhna Tripati – a professor in the Department of Earth, Planetary and Space Sciences – in a speech.

Tripati said in the speech that what she called harmful and inhumane actions by the federal government have deliberately targeted legally vulnerable groups, including immigrants and members of the LGBTQ+ community.

“To select a small number of vulnerable people as tokens of punishment is so cowardly and disgraceful that if our administrators don’t actually stand up for them, … we will really be ashamed of being part of this institution,” said Asad Abidi, a distinguished chancellor’s professor of electrical engineering, in a speech.

Samantha Acuña, an assistant professor of politics at Occidental College, said in a speech that the Trump administration has also not given due process to immigrants, including those lacking permanent legal status.

Abidi added that international students benefit the American education system by bringing new teaching traditions.

“The greatness of American science (during World War II) was largely due to European émigrés bringing all kinds of teaching traditions with them,” he said.

Hannah Appel, an associate professor of anthropology and a member of Faculty for Justice in Palestine at UCLA, said in a speech that the University must resist the Trump administration’s actions.

“Compliance will not protect our students,” she said in a speech.

Tripati also criticized the UC’s current response to the Trump administration in her speech, arguing that the University has allowed people, institutions and rights to be targeted while waiting for some line to be crossed before fighting back.

“All that does is, it lets fear and authoritarianism grow,” Tripati said in the speech. “It lets destructive power accumulate.”

Faculty also read two anonymous statements from UCLA students opposing the Trump administration’s actions.

The student in the first statement said they believed they were watching the U.S.’ promise “shatter.”

The student added in the statement that international students worry about being arrested and deported over a “mistake” such as a traffic infraction or misfiled document.

Some UCLA students and alumni who had their visas revoked had past traffic violations and missed court dates, according to minutes from a meeting between Undergraduate Students Association Council members and UCLA administrators.

“We know that at any moment, we could find ourselves facing deportation, stripped of rights without due process – our future stolen not because we broke the law but because we dared to speak,” the student from the first statement said.

[Related: Students who had visas revoked were previously arrested, USAC meeting reveals]

The first statement also criticized growing pressure for international students to remain silent on key issues out of fear of visa revocation, arguing that the stance is hypocritical considering American values.

“We came here to learn. We came here to contribute to the American experiment, even if this country might never call us our own,” the student said in the first statement. “We came here because we believed this was a place where ideas could be explored, where debate was welcomed and where truth could be pursued without fear.”

Anna Markowitz, an associate professor of education, encouraged rally participants to attend a march Saturday at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Los Angeles field office as well as disseminate information to international students about support and resources.

“Bad things only happen because ordinary people are willing to do them. But we are people who are saying no,” Markowitz said in a speech. “We will not cooperate. We will not make it easy. We will not put our neighbors at risk. And we will be clear-eyed about who is threatened – and take actions to address that threat.”