As a first-generation American citizen, I [Mollie] felt personally affected by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids taking place under the Trump administration. This is why I was compelled to participate in Saint Francis’s ICE walkout. Walkouts are crucial for empowering young people to challenge authority while simultaneously generating public visibility for the cause. As demonstrated by the 1968 East Los Angeles walkouts and the thousands that followed, solidarity matters, as it fosters collective action for social justice issues. It only takes one voice, one news article, or in Saint Francis’ case, one Instagram account, in order for people to come together. My personal experience at the walkout was gratifying and empowering. While I rallied in the streets, I felt connected to both my Scottish and Peruvian sides—which is a rare occasion for me. I knew that I was exactly where I was supposed to be: fighting for the future that both my immigrant parents and ancestors dreamed of.

Ever since the Trump administration came into power in January 2025, they have been trying to carry out Trump’s mass deportation agenda, leading to the many atrocities that (ICE) agents have committed since. We have seen some of these horrific stories in the news from Renée Good, a 37-year-old mother who was killed by an ICE agent during the Minneapolis raids earlier this year, to Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse who was shot multiple times amid a protest in Minneapolis two weeks later, where Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials attempted to frame the killings as acts of self-defense by the agents, despite the video evidence clearly showing the lack of any kind of aggression by the victims. These kinds of stories are not just happening on the streets, but are also occurring behind closed doors at detention facilities. Thirty-two people died in the centers in 2025 and 11 people have died this year due to the inhumane conditions in which they are forced to live. With over 70,000 people being held in the facilities, the overcrowded centers have unsanitary conditions, inadequate food, and poor medical care; there have also been many accounts of abusive conditions revealing an unfolding humanitarian crisis. These are the lives of human beings caught in a political agenda that prioritizes displaying power and spreading fear over maintaining basic human rights.

For those unfamiliar with the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment, it states: “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” ICE has violated the Due Process Clause on numerous occasions through deceptive tactics, warrantless home entries, and, most commonly, defective Notices To Appear (NTAs). Defective NTAs play a major role in missed court dates due to mailing issues. Because the NTA is the start of the case, many people wait for a second letter that lists their hearing date and time. At times, this letter is shipped to an old address or the mailing system experiences a delay. As a consequence, some don’t ever receive their hearing date or time, causing them to receive an In Absentia Removal order—effectively deporting them. This is a direct violation of the Due Process Clause because it disallows the right to “adequate notice.” The 14th Amendment doesn’t only apply to US citizens, as it protects “persons” (which is an umbrella term for both US citizens and non-citizens within the nation). It’s time that our country begins to treat people as people. Not “aliens” or “illegals,” but as humans with human rights.

The 14th Amendment also states, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.” However, one of the first executive orders Trump signed when he took office sought to make it so children born in the US would not automatically receive citizenship if neither parent is a US citizen or is in the country temporarily. Almost immediately, judges in Massachusetts, Maryland, and Washington froze the policy for the entire country, calling it “blatantly unconstitutional,” eventually leading to the Supreme Court being set to hear arguments on April 1 this year with a final ruling most likely to be released in June. In 1898, the Supreme Court case United States v. Wong Kim Ark established that children born in the US are citizens regardless of their parents’ immigration status, a principle that cannot be changed by executive order alone. That decision has already affirmed that all people born on American soil are Americans, regardless of race, gender, religion, ancestry, or whether their parents are citizens or immigrants. If citizenship were to be denied to children born in the US, it would create a class of people treated as outsiders in the only country they have ever known.

With forty-seven US states requiring the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools, one would think that Americans would understand what the pledge truly represents. The closing line is “with liberty and justice for all.” Not strictly for US citizens, not for immigrants who came here the “right way,” not for legacy American families: it’s for all. Immigrants built this nation and continue to contribute to this nation today. If this nation truly believes in equality and human rights, then the treatment of immigrants—the cruelty and inhumane behavior toward the literal backbone of our country—must change. History will remember whether we spoke out or stayed silent, and silence in the face of injustice is complicity.