On May 1, several dozen students, faculty and community members gathered beside Western Carolina University’s “Catafount” in Cullowhee for a May Day action celebrating the history of labor organizing — and demanding the rights workers have yet to be afforded. 

On May 1, workers, students, and families across the nation rallied, marched, and took action across the country to demand the nation puts workers over billionaires. The National Education Association (NEA), a key organizer of May Day events, helped lead a march in downtown Washington, D.C.—one of 4,000 events nationwide.

Holding signs reading “Workers over Billionaires,” “No ICE—Stop the Deportations,” and “Teachers Deserve More,” the demonstrators began Friday’s rally in the nation’s capital across from the White House and ended at Franklin Square.

At the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, protesters connected labor demands with concerns over reported local immigration enforcement activity...

On May Day, organizers including graduate employees, undergraduate groups and local unions delivered these demands to the university, calling for protections against Immigrations and Customs Enforcement for students and workers. The proposals include restricting ICE and Customs and Border Protection agents’ access to campus buildings, canceling contracts with corporations that collaborate with immigration enforcement and providing support for students and workers facing deportation or visa revocation.