Fresno State students march and rally for unity

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Dozens of Fresno State students marched and chanted along Shaw Avenue on Tuesday morning.

Organizers said it was a walk for unity.

As they made their way around the college campus, they chanted messages of support for migrant farm workers.

"Who works the land? Farm workers do," chanted students.

The march ended in front of the college library, where organizers took the opportunity to not only send a message of unity but to rally and celebrate the Latino culture.

Student organizer Maria Pacheco said they pushed to make the event coincide with Farm Worker Appreciation Week.

"They don't just produce two-thirds of the American produce. But they produce us. They produce these students. They produce these wonderful, educated Latinos."

She hopes Tuesday's message of support is shared with the migrant farm workers across the Central Valley.

"There's a lot of fear, just you know, people are scared. You know, they're scared to do things. That's why we're doing what we're doing here today," said Pacheco.

But not all students on Fresno State's campus agree with how that message was delivered.

"Demonstrations like this perpetuate a vicious cycle of fear. They say that there's fear. They protest the fear. They generate more fear rather than talking about what's going on," said Evan Trevino.

He is part of a conservative club on campus. Trevino believes these types of rallies can be misleading.

"The mass majority of undocumented migrants are not being targeted. They're mostly being deported as collateral to violent repeat offending criminals that are undocumented," said Trevino.

While Trevino agrees everyone has a right to free speech, he says he encourages everyone to do their research.

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