UCO NASA Held a “Know Your Rights” Educational Event

The University of Central Oklahoma Native American Student Association (NASA) partnered with the Hispanic American Student Association (HASA) and Miss Native UCO on Feb. 24 in the Nigh University Heritage room, 326, from 6-8 p.m. to host an educational event called “Know Your Rights” to navigate law enforcement and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) encounters.

NASA’s Social Chair, Alisa Gramm, says that this event is to educate attendees on the rights of American citizens in light of recent ICE events across the country.

“[ICE] is not only affecting Hispanic populations, it’s also affecting Native populations,” said Gramm.

In November, Gramm said that NASA touched on the Missing and the Murdered Indigenous People (MMIP) crisis Oklahoma is currently facing, and wants to continuously support the UCO community moving forward.

Yaretzi Reyes, HASA’s Officer of Operations, says that HASA’s mission is to advocate for their community and to keep them informed about what is continuing to happen regarding ICE. Reyes also said that it is important to always help others in the community, because those are the people who will look after one another.

“I think it’s very important to not just only advocate because it’s your personal experience, but also because…there is someone that’s going through something that you may not be aware of. I haven’t been affected [by ICE] personally, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t have a voice and I can’t advocate for other people…if I don’t help people, who’s going to help me?” Said Reyes.

Amira Newson was crowned the 2025-2026 Miss Native UCO in November. She says that since her crowning, she has made it her job to represent the Native American students on campus and to serve as the cultural ambassador for NASA.

“As Miss Native UCO, my number one thing is representing my people in a prideful way and advocating for my people [is at the] forefront of my mission. We have a lot of issues that go on in our Native communities and I think it is important that people are aware of those issues, but also aware that our cultures are still, we’re still thriving,” said Newson.

Amira continued to say that as an indigenous person who grew up in Oklahoma City, she said that she knows what it is like to live off a reservation, away from her people and family, and still finds ways to stay connected to her culture. She wants to make it clear that people at UCO have a community they can go to and feel pride in their culture.

“You can still represent your people wherever you are and whatever space [you are in]. You don’t have to hide your indigeneity to fit in with everyone else. You can proudly represent where you come from,” said Newson.

Newsom says that she and NASA have and will continue to support their people in the UCO community in the following:

• MMIP (Missing and Murdered Indigenous People)
• Women’s movements
• Two Spirit Relatives, Indigenous individuals who embody both masculine and feminine spirits.
• Native lands
• Every Child Matters, a movement that honors indigenous children who were taken from their families and forced into schools to assimilate them into the Euro-Canadian and Christian ways of living, intentionally isolating them from their own culture.

During this event, Amy Warne, Resident of Oklahoma County’s Ward 8 Democratic Party Chair and board member for the Sunny Dayz Mural Festival, spoke about her time speaking to the Oklahoma City Council on Jan. 28 regarding the proposed ICE facility.

Warne told the city council, “ICE is not only murdering American citizens, but they are rounding up Native peoples. People who have been here since colonization.”

During the “Know Your Right Event”, Warne told attendees, “We need to use our voice and show up and speak up…that’s something that is important for each of us… even if it’s scary, even if your voice shakes, your voice is so important, especially now.”

Fernando Baquera Ochoa also spoke at the Know Your Rights event. Baquera is a representative for Community Resource Response (CRR), a community-defense non-profit in Oklahoma City with trained Rapid Response Teams (RRT). According to Baquera, these teams are comprised of organizations, volunteers, and community members that are committed to responding and assisting families who face immigration enforcement emergencies.

Baquera says that the CRR and RRT Goals are:

• Developing a system that responds immediately to any raids or immigration related arrests happening in OKC and other cities.
• Community recruitment for RRT.
• Rumor control by verifying reports that are creating fear in the real world/social media channels.

He continues to say that people who know both how to defend their rights and how immigration agents are operating nearby are less likely to be separated from their families.

To find out more about NASA and Miss Native UCO, Amira Newson, visit their Ucore.

To find out more about HASA, visit their Ucore.

To learn more about Amy Warne, visit her website.

To learn more about Community Resource Response and Rapid Response Teams, visit their Instagram.