The Coalition of Graduate Workers is composing a list of demands that would urge MU administrators to make the university a “sanctuary campus.”
A sanctuary campus is often defined as a college or university campus that pledges not to refer students who are undocumented immigrants to federal authorities unless a warrant is issued, although the exact definition can vary. Cities, counties and states can also be designated “sanctuary” jurisdictions.
Missouri currently has a law that denies funding for cities that declare themselves to be sanctuaries. This means that Columbia cannot become a sanctuary city. MU, however, acts as a separate entity.
According to CGW spokesman Joseph Moore, the graduate rights union hopes to urge the university to adopt policies that would prevent the university from sharing students’ immigration statuses with organizations such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement. They also hope that the university would consider lobbying for Missouri Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals students to receive financial aid, an ability they lost due to a state law passed in 2015.
After President Donald Trump’s first immigration restriction plan was released earlier this year, Moore and other CGW members decided to start discussing making MU a sanctuary campus.
“We’ve seen an uptick in deportations, we’ve seen instances of students being rounded up by ICE, including students who are DACA,” Moore said. “So we felt like now was the time to do something about it.”
According to [reporting by the New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/19/us/politics/trump-immigration-deportations.html), [two draft memos](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/02/21/us/politics/document-Trump-Immigration-Enforcement-Policies.html) signed on Feb. 20 by Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly show an immigration plan with the intention to deport large numbers of undocumented immigrants by increasing ICE agents and ending the prioritization of convicted criminals.
There have also been multiple reported instances of people who fall under the DACA qualification being arrested by ICE agents, despite Trump’s assurances that DACA would still be respected.
“Trump has effectively criminalized all 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States,” Moore said. “He’s ended prioritization for felons; now anyone can be rounded up and deported.”
CGW is still in the early stages of forming a coalition with individuals and groups, and has yet to present the demands to the university.
“We’ve talked about possibly having a few actions and we’ve discussed what demands we would like to present to the administration,” Moore said. “But we haven’t actually pressed forward with any of that yet.”
MU spokesman Christian Basi said in an email that the university has not officially considered becoming a sanctuary campus, but they remain in support of international students.
“As a public university, we continue to follow all applicable state and federal laws,” Basi said. “Our staff at the International Center are always willing to meet with students and provide them any support we can or direct them to resources that can assist them with their unique situation.”
For Moore, it is the university’s duty to protect students and stand as an example for the rest of society.
“Academic institutions have a responsibility to their students to provide a safe, secure and comfortable learning environment,” Moore said. “I think that MU has a responsibility to respond and to show that they care about their students.”
_Edited by Madi McVan | mmcvan@themaneater.com_
