Student protesters from East Palo Alto’s Eastside College Preparatory Academy converged in Main Quad with community members around noon Wednesday to denounce the ongoing crackdown on immigration under President Donald Trump. Carrying the flags of Mexico and El Salvador while playing music in Spanish, the protesters chanted phrases like “vivan los inmigrantes” and “sí se puede.”
Since Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20, 2025, federal agencies have arrested over 8,000 immigrants through immigration operations across the country. Although the number of people detained in the Bay Area is unclear, there have been confirmed sightings of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in San Francisco and San Jose. No sightings of ICE agents or vehicles on Stanford’s campus have been confirmed to date.
University leaders have not made any official statements on immigration amid President Trump’s tightening policies, in contrast to the University’s denunciation of Trump’s travel ban in 2017. Student protestors urged the University to resist Trump’s executive orders through a small demonstration last week.
Stanford President Jonathan Levin ’94 stated in January that the University would not pause federally funded research in response to President Trump’s pause in federal funding to projects that may be affected by current or forthcoming federal orders. Levin has also indicated that programs focused on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) will likely be reevaluated in the wake of Trump’s orders.
Students from Eastside College Preparatory Academy led Wednesday’s march from the Oval toward Palm Drive. As they marched across Jane Stanford Way with hand-written signs, cars driving past supported the protestors by honking.
“We are protesting that Trump is marginalizing people again,” said Lara Trini, a member of the public with no connection to Eastside but who joined the protest. “We want to show Donald Trump that if he messes with one of us, he messes with all of us. We are going to continue to support each other regardless of his opinions.”
Students across the state and country have been walking out of classes to protest Trump’s immigration policies. The largest drops in attendance occurred Monday, when immigrants’ rights advocates announced a “Day Without Immigrants” to oppose mass deportations.
Campus security asked the protestors to leave Main Quad around 15 minutes into the demonstration, citing private property rights.
In response to a request for comment on the student protestors’ removal from campus, University spokesperson Luisa Rapport directed The Daily to a Freedom of Expression policy on events at Main Quad and Memorial Court. The policy states that Main Quad is an academic area and not an event space, and that demonstrations must therefore be held in White Plaza.
Correction: A previous version of this article misattributed the University’s response to another member of the Office of University Communications. The Daily regrets this error.