Students who are unhappy with recent immigration legislation will protest on campus Monday in conjunction with a nationwide boycott.

Cilia Ruiz-Paz, junior in psychology and president of the Latino Heritage Month Committee, said she and a group she is working to organize will not go to school or work or consume any goods Monday.

In addition, she said the assembled will wear white T-shirts and bandanas and carry signs in a silent protest in the afternoon in front of Parks Library.

“The main thing is: We are not dispensable,” she said. “The founding of this country is on immigration.”

One of the main focuses of the group is to protest pending U.S. legislation that would criminalise illegal aliens, as well as those who assist them, she said.

According to a January poll by Time magazine, 50 percent of the country favored deporting all illegal immigrants.

“We are protesting all of it,” she said.

“And the attitude that is being portrayed by a lot of Americans.”

The U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation, HR 4437, to build a fence along the Mexican border and makes crossing the border a felony-like crime.

The Senate is currently considering a bill that would enact a temporary guest worker program for immigrants, which would require all illegal immigrants to leave the United States before they can apply for work visas.

Freddy Aveiga-Alcivar, president of Latinoamericanos and graduate student in interdisciplinary studies, said although the group he represents isn’t directly affected by the legislation, he will still support the protest.

Aveiga-Alcivar said Latinoamericanos is a club composed of ISU students who grew up and received their undergraduate degrees in Latin America, but are working on graduate degrees in the United States.

Ruiz-Paz’s group, The Latino Heritage Month Committee is composed of all types of students, from those who grew up in Latin America to those who grew up here of Latino descent.

“We are not directly affected, but many of the people in my organization have people in those situations,” he said.

Ruiz-Pas said she expected much of Iowa State’s Latino community to participate, but wasn’t sure specifically how many would protest.

She also said she hoped and expected the protest to go peacefully.

“I hope everyone is aware of the day and what it represents, even if they disagree,” she said.