On Wednesday, April 10 from 3:30 to 5 p.m., students, workers, and others will march in Hartford to promote legislation reforming what they see as a broken immigration system; participants hope to achieve what they consider common sense immigration reform, including a simpler path to citizenship. The march will begin at the Old Statehouse on 800 Main St. and end at 210 Capitol Ave.

Members of the University custodial staff, many of whom are of Latin American descent, will be participating in the march and urge University students to come out and support them. Member of the United Student Labor Action Coalition (USLAC) Cesar Chavez ’15 explained the importance of partaking in this event.

“I want students to get outside the Wesleyan bubble and realize there are other issues that they can get involved with that aren’t necessarily to the benefit of the students but are beneficial for other members of the Wesleyan community,” Chavez said. “I think that the custodial staff and the workers are usually neglected, and every time they want to host an activity, they do not get a lot of student support.”

Students agree that their relationship with the custodial staff could be strengthened. Dominique Cameron-Rouge ’16 stated that she is unable to attend the event, but she acknowledged that students should increase their recognition of the role that custodial workers play in the community.

“I do believe Wesleyan students ignore the custodial staff,” Cameron Rouge said. “I rarely see students talking to them or thanking them.”

Valerie Yarema ’16 echoed Cameron-Rouge’s thoughts and added that the University could help in this respect.

“I feel like the University has not made an effort to foster any relationship between the students and the staff,” she said. “This could definitely be improved upon.”

In contrast, USLAC consists of students who work to help the custodial staff. Last year, when Sun Services threatened to fire 10 workers, USLAC members collaborated with the staff to ensure that no jobs were lost.

“The workers have a union, obviously, but there are certain things the students can do that the union doesn’t address,” Chavez explained. “We can at least ameliorate some conditions of their work.”

USLAC member Alma Sanchez-Eppler ’14 explained more about the event.

“The march is organized and run by SEIU [Service Employees International Union] 32BJ, the Union Local, which represents Sun Services workers here,” she wrote in an email to The Argus.

University students can also meet elected officials at their legislative offices at 300 Capitol Ave. every Wednesday from 1 to 5 p.m. to discuss the same issues that the march promotes.

“I hope this event can inspire students to go to Hartford and stand in solidarity with the custodial staff,” Chavez said.