03-03-2025
Student group rallies hundreds in support of immigrants
Mar. 2—ROCHESTER — With U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement taking immigrants into custody in Rochester and the Trump administration promising the largest deportation effort in U.S. history, more than 200 people rallied in support of immigrants in downtown Rochester Sunday afternoon, March 2, 2025.
Members of the group, the student-led Rochester Community Initiative, decried deportation of immigrants, splitting of families and the fear recent immigration actions are causing among the Rochester immigrant community.
"RCI refuses to sit back as people are erased from the communities they helped build," said Anousha Mozammel, a board member and organizer with RCI.
The student-led Rochester Community Initiative organized the event, attended mostly by students. It started with a rally outside the city-county Government Center followed by a march. The group walked from the Government Center to Broadway, to Second Street Southwest to Mayo Civic Center. The group made multiple circles along the route, carrying signs and chanting slogans, amid honks from passing cars.
Speakers at the rally included student organizers, student immigrants and teachers from Rochester Public Schools.
Christina Freund, a Mayo High School Spanish teacher, gave a bilingual speech and urged students to speak out in support of immigrants in the community and schools.
"This event is necessary because the people in danger don't feel safe using their voices," Freund said. "Right now, we need that allyship."
Mayo High School 10th grader Annika Cmeil said that's why she attended the rally.
"I wanted to be here to be a voice for people who aren't able to speak up," she said while carrying a sign that read, "No human is illegal."
Ava Tiede, an immigrant and Rochester Community and Technical College student, attended the rally after learning about it and decided to show her support for other members of the immigrant community.
"What America is doing is not okay," she said. "You don't separate families."
Mozamme said that the rally was in response to recent news of enforcement action by ICE officials in Rochester and a chance to show the community where young people stand amid polarization in policy. Mozammel said she hasn't seen that polarization as prevalent in school as elsewhere, but nevertheless fear is growing among students from immigrant families and their friends.
"The feeling of fear that permeated the community has filtered into the schools, unfortunately," she said.
Maeva Djossou, a Mayo High School student whose family immigrated from Morocco in 2010, spoke at the rally and read a poem she had written. She expressed hurt for her fellow immigrant students. She said she has lost much of her native language skill, but still is treated by people in the community as an outsider.
"Despite losing my mother's tongue, there will always be those who remind me I'm an immigrant," she said.
Following the march, Mozammel asked the people attending to continue to help the immigrant community speak up.
"Our work isn't done," she said.
