The Hopkins College Democrats attended CASA de Maryland’s “Citizenship for 11 Million” March for Immigration Reform yesterday afternoon in Washington, D.C.
Junior Suzy Yaster, President of the College Democrats, explained the organization’s connection to the cause.
“As a club we decided that immigration reform is a just cause and should be supported by our group, especially because we’re a very progressive organization,” she said.
CASA de Maryland had contacted the club to collaborate and were received well. They were provided with further support by the club with the addition of college demonstrators.
Sophomore Jordan Carmon, a member of the College Democrats, explained the club’s involvement with the political rally.
“CASA de Maryland approached us because we’re college Democrats and their primary mission is to work with local communities and find opportunities within Maryland to fight for equal protection rights,” he said.
The rally included speeches from myriad speakers, both politically and religiously significant. The promotion leading up to the event led to an estimated attendance of 100,000 individuals.
As Obama reevaluates immigration laws and continues to pass new regulations making citizenship more attainable, demonstrations such as this have become increasingly prevalent.
The momentum from these changes continues to stir up the desire for further reform.
The organization provided buses from over 25 main stops and also had “echo events” in over 140 cities, organized in less centralized locations with the help of CASA de Maryland by even smaller groups.
The main march in Washington was preceded by a similar event held in Miami on Saturday, April 6.
The College Democrats at Hopkins have been involved with this particular issue before, reaching out to voters in Maryland to reform immigration.
“Last November when the Dream Act [regarding immigration reform] was on the ballot in Maryland, we organized phone banks and we’ve been very involved with it the entire year,” he said.
Carmon also explained that the College Democrats promoted this event so heavily because of their strong belief in the importance of reforming these laws.
“I truly believe that we’re a country of immigrants and that it’s important to stand up for those individuals who come here with almost nothing and end up becoming the very embodiment of the American dream,” he said.
Yaster expressed similar views when speaking on the importance of immigration reform.
“The fact that there are 10 million undocumented people in this country needs to change,” she said. “Especially on campus, it’s not something we are aware of all the time, but it’s a big problem in the country overall.”
These ideals align with CASA de Maryland’s mission to promotes justice and citizenship: “For too long, our communities have suffered under a defective and outdated immigration system that stifles our economic growth, makes political scapegoats out of immigrants, and tears families apart.”
The rally’s goal, as Carmon shared, was simple and directed at politicians.
“Reforms in the past have failed because of a lack of political will,” he said. “The point of the march was to stop lawmakers from kicking the can down the road once more.”
