Protests by law students and professors prevented acting United States Secretary of Homeland Security Kevin McAleenan from delivering an address at the Georgetown University Law Center on Monday.

Law Center students were joined in protest by a coalition of groups including CREDO Action, a progressive organizing group, and Sanctuary DMV, a volunteer group that advocates for immigrants and marginalized communities in the area, according to CREDO Action’s Twitter. 

McAleenan was scheduled as the keynote speaker at the 16th Annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference, an annual conference that invites public officials, advocates, journalists and notable experts to discuss immigration politics. Under the President Donald Trump administration, the Department of Homeland Security has pushed policy changes to grapple with an increased number of migrants, including restrictions on asylum, forcible waits in Mexico and family separation policies, according to The New York Times.

As McAleenan was introduced on stage, protesters began chanting, “When immigrants are under attack, what do we do? Stand up! Fight back!” while unfurling two large signs that said, “Hate is not normal” and “Stand with immigrants.”

Event moderators asked the protesters to leave, saying the rest of the audience wanted to hear what McAleenan had to say. But, after multiple unsuccessful attempts to speak, McAleenan thanked the hosts and left the stage.

Under McAleenan’s oversight, DHS has carried out policies that have exacerbated an antiimmigrant environment, according to student protest organizer Sabiya Ahamed (LAW ’20).

“He is the head of the Department of Homeland Security. Anything that happens under his watch, he is responsible for,” Ahamed said. “And all the things we have seen in the news, about immigrants and the way migrants are treated in this country, are his responsibility, and they’re his fault. There’s no space for the law school, for us, to be honoring his policies or him.”

The DHS, which oversees the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, became a flashpoint of controversy in June 2018 as the Abolish ICE movement gained traction. The movement stemmed from the Trump administration’s controversial family separation policy, which allows federal authorities to separate children from parents or guardians after illegally entering the United States, according to CNN. 

Before the event, a group of Law Center protesters chanted slogans such as “abolish ICE” and “Hey hey, ho ho, DHS has got to go. Hey hey, ho ho, McAleenan has got to go” toward attendees entering the auditorium.

Jeremy Penn (LAW ’21), who participated in the protest inside the auditorium, said her group began chanting the names of children and adults who have died in ICE custody to draw attention to the narratives of those individuals.

“We are bringing them into this space, because they are the center of this story,” Penn said. “It is the people who are no longer with us who are why we are doing this.”

By giving McAleenan the privilege of a keynote address, the university was elevating the message of his speech and setting the tone for the event more broadly, according to Ahamed.

“It’s a form of honor and respect; it’s not just a platform — it’s also a pedestal,” Ahamed said. “We are elevating his voice as the opener of the conference, and it’s going to frame the conference.”

The conference was at full capacity from online preregistrations for the keynote, according to the online page advertising the event. McAleenan was expected to answer questions from the audience after his remarks.

The activists’ demonstration prevented the audience from engaging in a productive dialogue with McAleenan, according to a DHS news release.

“The First Amendment guarantees all Americans the right to free speech and assembly,” the news release read. “Unfortunately that right was robbed from many who were scheduled to speak and attend today’s event at Georgetown.”

Law Center Dean William Treanor also expressed disappointment at the protester’s interruptions in an Oct. 7 email to all Law Center students.

“We share our partners’ regret that the audience did not get to hear from the Secretary and engage in a dialogue through the Q&A session that was scheduled to occur following his remarks,” Treanor wrote. “Georgetown Law is committed to free speech and expression and the ability of speakers to be heard and engage in dialogue.”

Law Center students launched a letter campaign Sept. 30 asking the Law Center to rescind McAleenan’s invitation to the conference. The petition garnered over 300 signatures from students, faculty, staff and outside organizations and was delivered to Treanor on Oct. 3. 

Law Center professor Heidi Li Feldman said she joined the protests because she believed inviting McAleenan to the Law Center normalized his harmful policies.  

“It’s a mistake to legitimize people who have violated law… international law, by respectfully sitting there and listening to them as if they are just usual government officials,” Li Feldman said in an interview with The Hoya.

Standing alongside peers affected by DHS policies motivated students to participate in the demonstrations, according to student protest organizer Ashley Burke (LAW ’22).

“We felt the need to organize this protest because there are people within Georgetown Law, and from the undergrad campus as well, who have been personally affected by the policies of DHS, and we didn’t want to let it go unmarked,” Burke said. “We felt the need to make this a safer space for people on campus who are personally affected, to know that we are not okay with this.”