USC’s graduate student union endorsed the call for a national shutdown Friday following the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renée Good by federal agents in Minneapolis.
Organizers of the shutdown movement have called for “no school, no work and no shopping.”
Adrianna Mirabal is a trustee for UAW Local 872, a workers union comprised of 3000 student workers. She also serves as union steward for Thornton School of Music.
She said the union endorsed the strike to oppose — what she refered to as — the “senseless killings of community members” by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers.
“What’s going on in our country right now is horrifying [and] disheartening,” Mirabal said. “It’s our duty to show the Trump administration that we’re going to stand up to [ICE agents] that are persevering throughout our country and affecting people who are vulnerable.”
The strike comes in the wake of increased ICE violence in LA, with almost 20 communities being raided across the Southland over the past two days, according to L.A. TACO. As Friday approaches, many businesses in LA have publically announced their support for the shutdown.
Peter Stedman co-owns Stronghold Climbing Gym with his wife. He said their business will be participating in the shutdown due to the “lawless” nature of ICE, and how it has impacted Angelenos.
“Taking people off the streets with no regard to the constitution is not American,” Stedman said. “These people are just getting swept up and racially profiled, which clearly violates constitutional law. It’s lawless and it needs to stop.”
While some students and faculty have said they will be participating in the shutdown, USC has remained silent on the shutdown throughout LA.
Kyle Hulburd, president of UAW Local 872 and a PhD candidate in sociology, said that the union’s action comes in ‘direct response’ to ICE presence in LA.
“We know that ICE has been inflicting terror upon communities across the country, including here in Los Angeles, with the murder of Keith Porter [last month],” Hulburd said.
“It would be great to see [a] stronger institutional commitment from USC,” Hulburd said. “The university could make it [more] clear that the safety and security of students on campus and immigrants in our USC community is important to them.”
Jack Abrams, a sophomore majoring in psychology, expressed support for the shutdown and said he understands USC’s silence.
“I can understand and appreciate why the University isn’t taking a stance,” Abrams said. “But I think a lot of universities — especially [USC] — have difficulty speaking up about certain issues because they’re worried about funding.”
Alex Wiseman, a sophomore studying economics, said he is excited to see faculty participating in the shutdown.
“I’m really happy that [teachers] are doing something, and that [this is] happening,” Wiseman said.
When asked if USC anticipates being affected by the shutdown, David Carlisle, assistant chief of the Department of Public Safety (DPS) informed Annenberg Media that DPS does not expect “any significant disruption on campus” tomorrow.
“Our goal is to maintain a peaceful and safe campus for all,” his statement read.
Wiseman said that he hopes to see USC explicitly condemn ICE violence in L.A., describing the school’s silence on the matter as a fracture between the administration and its students.
“When I was coming to the school, I was [of] the impression that [it] was a liberal institution dedicated towards progress,” Wiseman said. “It feels like just continually, there’s been a descent away from that. And I get it, under the Trump administration it’s really hard … but I think it’s naive, [and] you clearly don’t know your student body at all.”
Shutdowns have been scheduled across the city, including an “organizing meeting” at City Hall from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. Friday, according to the shutdown movement’s website.
USC PR did not respond to Annenberg Media’s request for a comment.