SPOKANE, Wash. — Student activists at Gonzaga University plan to demonstrate Friday afternoon, demanding the institution adopt sanctuary campus policies and oppose Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations.
The Do Better Gonzaga Coalition will gather at 12:15 p.m. on Foley Lawn calling for legal aid for students facing deportation threats and a formal policy prohibiting ICE cooperation.
Organizers criticize the university’s decision to host Border Patrol recruiters at an October 2024 campus job fair.
“Why are we allowing agencies complicit in violent and racist agendas to recruit on our campus?” said Jackson Stopa, a Do Better Gonzaga member.
“It is our responsibility to let the Spokane immigrant and refugee community know that they are not alone,” Stopa said.
The group also wants Gonzaga to abolish its protest policy and disclose investments in military and surveillance companies.
“The atrocities we see in Gaza are inherently tied to those on the streets of Minneapolis,” said member Jolene Henrickson.
The protest follows nationwide anti-ICE demonstrations. On Jan. 13, hundreds of Spokane high school students walked out to protest the killing of Minnesota resident Renee Good.
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