Students at San Diego City College were outraged that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested a student near campus.
The arrest happened Tuesday morning at the corner of 16th and C streets. Renatho Kemsley Casseus was taken into custody, while his passenger, also a student, ran and took refuge on campus. Both are Haitian immigrants.
In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said Casseus entered the country in May 2023 and was released by the Biden administration. In June, the Trump administration ended the Temporary Protected Status for Haitians. The program lets immigrants stay and work in the United States if conditions in their country are too dangerous for them to return.
“All of his claims will be heard by an immigration judge and he will receive due process,” a DHS spokesperson said in a statement.
Students held a rally Wednesday afternoon in a plaza near where the arrest happened. They said they had warned the college administration that something like this could happen since the Trump administration ramped up deportations last year.
Sebastian Hernandez, a board member of MEChA de San Diego City College and one of the rally's organizers, said the administration didn’t seem to take their concerns seriously.
“I don't feel like they really care enough to make these trainings and the things that are required to protect the students institutionalized and mandatory, not just a suggestion or an option,” he said.
Grae Fairlie, a member of Justice in Palestine, who also helped organize the rally, said some students were afraid to attend class on campus because of the incident. And some were thinking about dropping out.
“There are a lot of people who are genuinely scared,” she said. “We saw that all through kind of last semester, when attendance went down a little bit. People didn't feel safe. So for that threat to actually happen, there are people who are definitely scared.”
The administration released several statements Tuesday saying ICE was not welcome on campus. Students said that was not enough.
“I feel unsupported by some of the admins and the people that should be here to protect us to make this an inclusive place,” Hernandez said.
Despite the San Diego Community College chancellor’s office claiming that ICE agents had left campus and the vicinity before San Diego Community College Police Department officers arrived, students, staff and faculty members said they have video and photographic proof to the contrary.
They said campus police directed traffic after the incident and spoke with ICE agents. English professor Mona Alsoraimi-Espiritu was one of the faculty members who witnessed that.
Under California law, campus police and college district employees are forbidden to participate in, assist with or coordinate in ICE enforcement activities.
“Right now our campus administration is planning to review those and meet with the faculty who actually observed that firsthand … to try to understand what was happening,” she said. “I think that's part of what students are really frustrated about. We feel like our campus police should be here to protect us, and that has always been a concern on our campus.”
She spoke to the student who was chased onto campus by ICE agents.
“The student was traumatized,” she said. “And, you know, I work with students every day. I've been a teacher for over 12 years, and I've never seen a student so afraid and uncomfortable.”
"There is a growing fear in the community," she said.
On Thursday, the Haitian community and allies are planning a peaceful sit-in in front of the Edward J. Schwartz Federal Building downtown to denounce the arrest.
