Landon Block is a political science junior and the Opinion Editor at Mustang News. The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of Mustang Media Group.
This week, Mustang News reported that one Cal Poly international student and two alumni’s visas were revoked, along with at least 47 other students in the Cal State system. The justifications for the Cal Poly student’s visa revocation have not been made public, as of April 10.
This follows the broader national trend of ICE and the Trump Administration targeting international students across the country who have spoken out against their agenda. Many, if not the vast majority, of these students have committed no criminal offenses. I, and many others, assumed the cases in our community had a similar motivation.
On Mustang News’ Instagram post announcing the news, users commented “Get the troublemakers out. Now more space for citizens that deserve to be here” and “If you are here as a guest of our country and are anti-American, you gotta go.”
Most discussions on campus free speech call on universities to ease their own speech policies. This one is a little different because the threat is coming from the federal government. Cal Poly must continue to ensure that students are free from legal repercussions, especially from the federal government, when they choose to peacefully exercise their constitutional rights.
In recent years, Cal Poly has hosted many displays of speech, including protests against immigration policy, the Israel-Hamas war, abortion rights and Planned Parenthood, former Cal State Chancellor Joseph Castro, and labor conditions.
I don’t agree with all of these causes. In fact, I actively oppose many of the protest groups that I have encountered during my time at Cal Poly. But I cannot deny that the groups I disagree with have just as much of a right to respectfully spread their message as those I support.
This doesn’t mean we should allow anything on our campus. Cal Poly cannot be a safe harbor for clear and dangerous forms of hate, like hate speech and physical violence. It’s clear where speech and organizing can go too far and meaningfully disrupt student life, such as the infamous UCLA and Columbia University encampments.
But Cal Poly has seldom seen this level of disruptive, dangerous and hateful speech, and certainly nothing recently that is comparable to other universities’ encampments.
I urge students to continue to respectfully share their voices with our community. Now more than ever, this means U.S. citizens speaking out for our lawful permanent resident or undocumented peers, staff, and community members. The fundamental right of due process is being stripped from more and more vulnerable groups, and citizens must use their privilege to fight back.
Action to protect our community members can take many forms. Of course, there are the protests, marches and demonstrations we have become accustomed to. But we cannot stop there. Community members are free to submit Letters to the Editor to Mustang News to spread their message. Similarly, social media can be a powerful tool to raise awareness and organize activism, if done well.
Cal Poly and the Cal State system must also work to protect their students and community members. Ideally, this means bolstering current efforts to increase funding for critical programs, maintain DEI programs and protect students from unlawful deportation. I know those are big asks, so let’s start with something even more fundamental: making sure students can respectfully speak out for their peers without fear of disproportionate punishment.
I know university administration is capable of civilly disagreeing with student speech. Last month, when I published a column with my frustrations about the Morning on the Green rollout strategy, President Jeffrey Armstrong responded with his own Letter to the Editor. While he held strong objections to my argument, he did not take any administrative action that threatened my education. This stance needs to be applied to all students who speak out against campus administration, regardless of citizenship status.
I expect the university and Cal State system to do a thorough investigation into the reason for recent visa revocations. If there is substantial evidence that these students were a danger to their community and the United States, we should know why. Alternatively, if these students merely participated in a protest or had a parking ticket, Cal Poly and Cal State should exhaust every reasonable effort to bring them back to our communities.
We cannot stand idly by as constitutional rights are denied to our peers, staff, and community members. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
Update: This column was updated at 3:10 p.m. to update the number of students who have had their visas revoked since the beginning of the year.