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Protesters rallied at the Student Union Building on Monday night in response to a movie that deemed undocumented immigration “illegal.”
The film, titled “They Came to America: The Cost of Illegal Immigration,” led to the protest because of its title and its depiction of undocumented immigrants. The UNM Conservative Republicans hosted the screening of the film.
Ramiro Rodriguez, a member of the organization Movimiento Estudiantil Chicana de Aztlan (MEChA), which was part of the coalition that organized the protest, said he did not support the showing of the video because it was misleading.
“We’ve actually already had a prescreening of the event,” he said. “It is not educational, and it is based off of people’s ignorance and thoughts. They don’t show any statistics … they don’t give any factual statements or refer to anything.”
Conflicts broke out regarding the event after the UNM Dream Team started an online petition over the weekend on Change.org against the screening. The petition calls the screening “hate speech” because “using the word ‘illegal’ to describe people is legally inaccurate, dehumanizing and has proven to increase violence against real and perceived immigrants.”
At press time, the petition had 126 signatures.
Rodriguez said the documentary is offensive to students and does not belong at UNM.
“We’re a pro-immigrant campus,” he said. “It is affecting students, students who are undocumented on campus. It is referring to them as ‘illegal,’ and that is dehumanizing. ‘Illegal’ refers to an act, not a person.”
He said he knew people around campus who had already been offended by the documentary, including himself.
But members of the UNM Conservative Republicans continued to defend their motives.
Amber West, vice president of the group, said undocumented immigration remains costly for the country. And she said her group wanted to inform students about its consequences through the screening.
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West said she wasn’t surprised that protesters showed up at the event.
“I’m not very surprised,” she said. “We received several emails that stated that we would basically have protesters. We are not against people protesting, but we feel that protesting without first understanding our point of view is useless.”
Despite a petition against the screening that circulated online over the weekend, West said her group decided to follow through with their plans.
“The petition basically says that using the term ‘illegal immigrant’ is wrong and racist,” she said. “We’re talking about illegal immigrants regardless if they’re from Mexico or whether
they’re from Great Britain. So, it has nothing to do with race.”
But West disagrees.
“They crossed our borders illegally,” she said. “They emigrated here illegally … I don’t hate these people. I think what they did is wrong. I think they broke the law, so they should suffer the consequences. It’s the same as if they robbed someone.”
UNM Dean of Students Tomas Aguirre said his office found out about the screening over the weekend. He said his office did not have to approve the screening for it to take place.
Aguirre said that although the group’s usage of “illegal immigrant” is not hate speech, he thinks both sides have acted in a civil manner.
“As dean of students, it’s important to separate how I feel about things,” he said. “As dean of students, it’s important to remember that I am an advocate for all students … My only concern is that individuals and groups express dissenting views that were able to engage in a healthy, educational conversation.”
Aguirre said UNM’s student governments should consider passing resolutions regarding whether “illegal immigrant” should be considered hate speech. He said other student governments of universities nationwide, such as the University of California Los Angeles and the University of California Berkeley, have passed resolutions deeming the term as so.
Rodriguez said he feels the word “illegal” should not be used when referring to undocumented immigrants.
“They should drop the ‘I’ word,” he said. “They use ‘illegal’ right in the documentary … That was one of the biggest offenses, is just in the name of it.”
Still, West said her organization is already planning a similar event for the spring semester.
Protesters should be more open-minded and should “have a civilized conversation” with her group, West said. She said the University community should be more involved on the issue.
“You need to get involved and you need to listen if someone has a point of view,” she said. “Then you can decide for yourself if it makes sense.”
