A few weeks ago, Parker Simons recalled, plans circulated for a pro-immigrant protest, but they were scrapped after outside threats caused organizers to fear for their safety.
Of late on campus, he and other University of Tennessee at Chattanooga students say, fear continues to loom.
They say it’s driven by nationwide reports of federal authorities arresting international students and green card holders tied to prominent universities. And they say it’s driven by local reports, like the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office moving to collaborate more closely with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the main agency tasked with carrying out President Donald Trump’s promise of mass deportations.
“We want our students to feel safe here,” said Simons, co-chair of the campus’s Young Democratic Socialists of America, speaking into a microphone before dozens who’d assembled Wednesday evening on the quad. “We’ve had a lot of immigrant students come to us and say they don’t feel safe on our campus. We don’t like that. We want that to end.”