“The first protest of the Trump Era took place at 9am on November 9, 2016, at a government assembly in Atlanta, Georgia.

The act of civil disobedience was led by undocumented students of Freedom University, who were joined with documented student allies and Buddhist, Muslim, Jewish, and Christian faith leaders.

The protest had been planned for months, and targeted the Georgia Board of Regents’ public hearing near the Georgia Capitol to challenge the admissions bans barring undocumented students from the state’s top public universities.

But at 2am that morning, as the results of the presidential election were being finalized, Freedom University organizers and students began debating if they should move forward with the action. After much discussion, one student said, ‘If people in the world need hope to keep fighting, who better to show them than undocumented young people who have everything to lose under Trump?’

And so we bravely put on our ‘FU Georgia’ shirts, disrupted the public meeting, and prayed in our multiple faith traditions that the Board of Regents might implement the demands of justice.

Four years later, after seeing children detained in cages, the repeal of DACA, the Muslim ban, the construction of a border wall, forced sterilizations at Georgia detention facilities, and family separations at the border and at homes, traffic stops, and work raids across the country, we are still here.

And Freedom University is still strong. We continue to be an underground university for undocumented students and a sanctuary of learning in the Deep South. Freedom University students and 11 million other undocumented people in the country pay taxes but cannot vote. They experience taxation without representation. They are disenfranchised members of our community. And yet, these students still have hope. They still fervently believe in the democratic process and the power of organized, everyday people.

And here in Georgia, we join millions of others demanding that every vote be counted. And no matter the outcome, we will continue to fight for the rights and dignity of all human beings, regardless of their race, religion, age, gender, sexuality, ability, immigration status, or any other form of human difference.

After all, who better to show the world how to keep fighting than undocumented young people who have everything to lose?”

- Dr. Laura Emiko Soltis, Executive Director and Professor of Human Rights

Photos by Sheila Pree Bright