Protesters organized by Aliento at ASU gathered around the Hayden Lawn on Friday morning to protest a College Republicans United at ASU tabling event which called for students to report classmates to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Approximately 700 protesters gathered outside the Memorial Union to protest the CRU tabling event. The group circled the Hayden Library and the Hayden Lawn for over an hour with occasional halts to give time for speakers.
Around 10 a.m., CRU at ASU set up a table on Hayden Lawn, including a large sign with the information to contact ICE. The table was run by four people, including CRU president, Isaiah Alvarado, a sophomore studying anthropology and German.
CRU sparked a significant outcry from ASU student organizations and Arizona elected officials when they announced their tabling event on Wednesday. Aliento at ASU began a public letter to the University in solidarity with those without legal status in the U.S. and DACA students. As of Thursday at 9 p.m., the organization stated it had received over 2,000 signatures from individuals, student organizations and community groups signing on to support "the Safety and Belonging of All Students Regardless of Immigration Status."
READ MORE: Politicians, student organizations condemn CRU at ASU event planned for Friday
"Our students were telling us that what we needed to do is to show up, making sure that they're not afraid to go to classes," said Reyna Montoya, founder and CEO of Aliento AZ. "We're going to keep moving. I know we've been chanting and really showing solidarity, we know there are so many student organizations that showed up today with our students."
During the CRU at ASU tabling event, several members of the protest approached the table to debate and ask CRU at ASU representatives questions. Among them was Sandy Wallach, a protester who spoke to them about her experience as a lifelong opponent of intolerance.
"In 1984 the KKK marched up and down Mill Avenue by Moeur Park in their cowardly garb. I challenged them," Wallach said. "I challenged them at Kiwanis Park. They were so cowardly."
Wallach spoke about civil rights and feeling fearful about the country's state and the Constitution's protections.
"I'm a 67-year-old white woman, lived, born and raised in America my whole life," Wallach said. "This is America. We're supposed to be a democratic country. We're supposed to stand for civil rights, freedom and liberty for all."
Among the group at the CRU table was Ryan Sanchez, who was accused of allegedly doing a Nazi salute in a hotel lobby in a video last year.
Sanchez wore a leather jacket with a lion patch on his right arm which was similar to the Emblem of SS Galizien. The patch is historically worn by a Ukrainian far-right nationalist group.
When Alvarado was asked about Sanchez's reported affiliation with Neo-Nazi groups, he declined to comment.
READ MORE: College Republicans United asks students to report fellow classmates to ICE this Friday
At the CRU table, Alvarado gave interviews and spoke about the event's purpose.
"Our goal will specifically inform students where they need to go for legal action of tipping ICE through witness reports or testimony or anonymous steps," Alvarado said.
Alvarado expressed dissatisfaction with the current Trump administration's deportation policies.
"So far, right now, the current Trump admin, as I mentioned, we're currently dissatisfied with what they're doing. Right now, we can't even break over 1,000 deportations a day," Alvarado said.
William Cox, an attendee of the protest, handed out pamphlets titled "Isaiah Alvarado is a Nazi."
Cox said he knew Alvarado in high school and when they found out about the tabling event on Thursday, he stayed up all night writing the literature. The two-page pamphlet contained allegations of Alvarado's extremist political beliefs.
"(Alvarado) was known as a far-right person bordering on a lot of World War II-era German idealism," Cox said.
Cox said he created the pamphlet so that people could understand Alvarado's "side of the story."
Minutes after CRU at ASU set up, a member of the protest approached the table and knocked it forward, dropping the organization's signs and flag to the ground.
After CRU at ASU had been set up for about 45 minutes, ASU officials approached the club and said they were not permitted to have their table set up on Hayden Lawn. CRU folded their table until eventually packing up and leaving the area at 11 a.m. As they left, the remaining protesters clapped.
On Friday, following the protest and tabling, ASU released a statement in response to criticisms that the CRU at ASU event went against the University charter. The statement offered resources for those who may feel threatened on campus and reaffirmed ASU as a space for free speech.
"We are here to teach and learn — not to engage in self-aggrandizing conduct meant solely to generate as much media attention and controversy as possible," the statement said. "But we must also recognize that we live in a country that protects individual free speech, even speech that is hurtful."
Brianna Custer, a freshman studying global studies, said she attended the protest because she did not believe CRU at ASU should be allowed to host their tabling event on ASU's campus with the number of students who "are immigrants or children of immigrants."
"They are inherently being racist," Custer said. "Just because someone may be here illegally or doesn't have documentation that doesn't make them a criminal. I think that it's just racist and it's opening the door for racial profiling."
Ari Ruiz, a freshman studying film and media production, was part of the group protesting the CRU event and said she felt connected to the community after seeing protest attendees from so many different backgrounds.
"I never really practiced my First Amendment right like this before," Ruiz said. "It's nice to be able to do it for something that actually really matters."
Edited by Senna James, Sophia Braccio, Alysa Horton, Alexis Heichman and Natalia Jarrett.
Reach the reporters at syramir2@asu.edu and ehprest1@asu.edu and follow @nerdyoso and @ellis_reports on X.
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Sophia is a senior studying biological sciences. This is her fifth semester with The State Press. She has also worked as a science and technology reporter.
Ellis is a sophomore studying journalism and mass communication. This is her first semester with The State Press. She has also worked at Arizona PBS and Blaze Radio.
