As immigration debates intensify across the country and ICE activity increases in New York City, students and community organizations gathered at the CSI to educate the campus community about immigrant rights and legal protections. 

The event brought together organizations including What The Thing, Hands Off NYC, and Staten Island for Palestine to raise awareness about immigration issues, teach students about ICE protocols, and encourage community support for immigrant lives on Staten Island. 

College campuses have historically served as centers for political activism and social movements in the United States. From the Civil Rights Movement to protests against the Vietnam War to the Pro-Palestine protests at Columbia University, universities have often provided space for political organizing and debate. 

Ariana Smith, a representative from the organization What The Thing, explained the group’s goals within the Staten Island community. “We put on different events with the goal of building a coalition, community, and mutual aid in Staten Island,” Smith said. “We help folks who face detention or deportation with their asylum cases and connect them with legal services they might need to stay here.” 

Another organization called Hands Off NYC was promoting “Know Your Rights” training, bystander training, and cultural compensation training. They were also handing out whistle kits, which aim to teach civilians a combination of signals to alert others around them of ICE presence. 

Megan Welch, who is Staten Island’s ICE watch coordinator, discussed how the advocacy groups in which she is involved have developed their own strategies to better respond to immigration enforcement on Staten Island. “The phrase that I’m hearing a lot is, there’s too many cooks in the kitchen; I don’t like that,” Welch said. “It has to be the people who are the most impacted by state-sanctioned violence [who] are always going to be the people best equipped to mobilize against it.” 

Staten Island had the largest increase in non-U.S.-born population of all the boroughs, increasing from 98,400 in 2010 to 122,200 in 2023, a 24% increase. Most of this increase was among naturalized citizens, up 42%, compared with 4% among undocumented immigrants. At CSI, more than 80 countries are represented among the student body, lending a diviersity of cultures and opinions to the College community. 

Some Staten Island residents have expressed concerns about the presence of migrants in the Borough, claiming that undocumented immigrants could pose safety risks. Despite the fearmongering, research shows that as immigration increased, the crime rate declined. 

Despite Staten Island’s strong conservative leanings, protests have increased in the Borough regarding ICE presence, with the most recent anti-ICE rally organized and led by students at Curtis High School. 

“The network on Staten Island has grown exponentially,” Welch said. “While we have many like-minded individuals [who] want to come together to do good work, the focus right now is building on the organizing that immigrant communities here have already been doing.” 

Despite the challenges, organizers, coordinators, and Borough leaders say support networks for immigrant communities on Staten Island have continued. 

By S. Manai