Drew saw one of the largest political events held in years at Esperanza’s peaceful protest from 12-3 p.m. on Thursday, April 23, 2026. With approximately 200 people in attendance, club leaders, faculty and outside organizations gathered to bring awareness to a Day Without Immigrants. Complete with refreshments, protest signs, art and resources as well as performances, community-led programs and speeches throughout, the picnic brought attention to the significance of immigrants and their rights in the current political climate.
Esperanza, a student-run human rights organization focusing on educating and mobilizing for immigrant rights, was founded in 2025 by Mari Centeno (‘27), Annette Lopez (‘27) and Stephanie Yanes (‘27). Inspired by the original Day Without Immigrants boycott in 2006, Esperanza decided to arrange their own protest to “draw attention to the fact that many businesses, schools and organizations would grind to a halt without the contributions of immigrants.”
The three founders kicked off the picnic with opening remarks discussing the history of a Day Without Immigrants, the goals of their protest and the mission of their organization. Thanking their 12 collaborators for working with them to make the protest a reality and drawing attention to student-made art displayed on Hoyt lawn, Esperanza started the day off strong and kept up the momentum as they facilitated speakers, performances and stories.
To first take the stage were Li Adorno and Alejandro Jaramillo of Movimento Cosecha, a nonviolent organization fighting for immigrants’ rights. Trading the mic between each other, Adorno and Jaramillo spoke of their organization’s goal to humanize immigrants regardless of their legal status and to bring attention to government actions. Speaking of both historical and recent injustices carried out by ICE towards immigrants, the two representatives related the fight to the immigrant community in New Jersey and spoke about the detrimental effects of the Delaney Hall Detention Center in Newark. Capping off their call to action, Jaramillo touched on the importance of citizen and student activism saying that it’s important to keep “empowering communities and empowering people to drive change.”
Following their speech, multiple members of Drew’s faculty and staff took to the stage. Spanish professor María Turrero-García spoke of the immigrant experience as an immigrant herself and talked about the issue of language-based discrimination. After passing the mic to another Spanish professor, Raúl Rosales who read an excerpt of Gloria Anzaldúa’s poem “To Live in the Borderlands” to further discuss the importance of language regarding the immigrant experience in the United States. Carolina Alderete, a member of the Latinx Caucus of Drew’s Theological School, took to the stage to perform her own poem about linguistics, epistemology and how the body reacts to encountering discrimination.
After a short break, the a cappella group On A Different Note was joined by members of All of the Above to perform “No Nos Moverán” in the style of Joan Baez and “This Land is Your Land” by Woody Guthrie. Natali Amaro (‘27) of Drew Student Voter Project came to the stage following that to discuss the importance of voting in regards to immigrant rights and legislation. Drew University Dramatic Society came after with community-oriented improvisation scenes highlighting bystander intervention and discrimination towards immigrants while incorporating feedback and notes from the audience of protestors.
Political science and international relations professor Sangay Mishra was invited to talk about the effects of immigrant detainments as well as the specifics concerning the way immigrant visas work in the United States. Following him was Madeline Koory, House Assistant of the Women’s Concerns House, who read aloud an article about immigration from a feminist intersection perspective.
Speaking on her own experience as a first-generation Latina at Drew, Esperanza cofounder Lopez delivered an emotional anecdote about the strain of immigrant detainments on children of immigrants and how this inspired her to establish Esperanza with Centeno and Yanes at her side. Having had a father detained at Delaney Hall and deported, Lopez relayed the pressures and duress of having to go on with one’s life in the face of losing a parent to deportation.
“It’s not real until it happens to you,” Lopez said, a reminder that the realities of immigration and deportation can happen to anyone: one’s classmates, friends, parents, etc.
After sitting with this story for a few minutes, Drew’s third a cappella group 36 Madison Avenue was invited to perform the Eagles’ “Take It to the Limit.” From then, two more genuine stories of Drew students were shared with the audience. Diana de la Luz voiced her firsthand experience as a child of immigrant parents, focusing specifically on her mother’s resilience in the face of hardships and making it a point to appreciate the immigrant staff at Drew. Yanes followed by reading on an anonymous student’s behalf who spoke of the realities of being a child immigrant and student.
The last portion of the day included a speech from representatives Sean Hewitt, Mecca Madyun and Jonathan Golden of the Center for Civic Engagement at Drew. Trading the mic amongst themselves, the three faculty and staff members discussed the significance of student support and connection in advancing a cause as well as past Drew student activism and Martin Luther King Jr.’s influence on Drew students during his visit in 1964. The last speaker of the day, Althea Spencer Miller of the Intercultural Committee and member of Drew’s Theological School faculty, gave a speech inciting Drew students to fight for what’s right. Centering on the power of the younger generation’s activism, Miller transferred the baton to the current Drew student population and offered them well wishes in their fight for immigrant and civil rights.
As part of their closing remarks, the Esperanza board led a call-and-response series of chants, including traditional protest sayings like “No hate, no fear, immigrants are welcome here!” and “Show me what resistance looks like, this is what resistance looks like.” Stay tuned for any future events by following Esperanza on Instagram at @weareesperanza26.
Eva Esqueda is a senior majoring in media & communications and minoring in French, american studies and film studies.
