The “A Day Without Immigrants” protest occurred nationwide on Thursday, Feb. 16.

The reason for the protest, or boycott, was a general dissatisfaction with recently elected President Donald Trump’s immigration policies.

Some students at El Camino decided it was an opportunity to show people what their goal is in participating.

“What it means is immigrants, people of immigrant families, and whoever is in solidarity with immigrants all over the nation,” Naseem Eskandari, 20, psychology major, said. “We are not going to work, not going to school, and we are trying not to buy anything.”

Since the protest aligned with the first week of the spring semester, some students came to a crossroads on whether or not they should participate.

“I explained to my teachers and I’m sure that they will understand, and if they don’t, then that’s just what the world is,” Eskandari said.

Many students chose not to participate in the protest, but still had thoughts of their own on Trump’s immigration policies.

“As long as they have their green card and their things to stay here, my intake is they should stay,” Jahorie Brown, 18, biology major, said.

Some knew other El Camino students who were being directly affected by Trump’s immigration policies.

“I have one friend and he told me he was an immigrant on the last day of the fall semester and his family, (they are) still trying to get their green cards and the process is long,” Joseph White, 18, nursing major, said. “Some days he has to miss school because he has to go to the U.S. Embassy and it kind of pressures him. I know that it’s hard on him and his parents because they’re immigrants.”

As for those who did participate, they claimed that not all students supported the protest’s message.

“I’ve faced a little bit of scrutiny, obviously,” Eskandari said. “But if we’re going to make a change, we have to do this together.”