In an email to faculty, staff and students, on Dec. 22, President Mark McCoy affirmed that DePauw University would not become a sanctuary campus, a label students and faculty petitioned DePauw to accept.
President McCoy’s rationale for deciding not to declare DePauw a sanctuary campus was largely based off of the fact that there is no legal definition of a sanctuary campus and it could backfire against DePauw. President McCoy stated in his email that “Legal counsel has advised that the title ‘sanctuary campus’ is a broad and unclearly defined term that has no legal definition or basis in law. Therefore, claiming the status could imply a promise of things that we, in the end, cannot deliver.”
Additionally, President McCoy has claimed that DePauw’s values and actions already cover what is proposed as part of becoming a sanctuary campus.
President McCoy expressed hope that the Trump administration would not end DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) and would work something out. President McCoy based his hope off of the Bridge Act, an act introduced in the Senate by Senators Dick Durbin and Lindsey Graham.
However, Graham stated on Twitter, “In my view, the DACA Executive Order issued by President Barack Obama was unconstitutional and President-elect Trump would be right to repeal it.” Therefore, this hope that students will be protected in the future is up in the air.
Under the DACA Program, certain undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as children are able to apply for DACA status, a two-year renewable period which delays them from potential deportation. Over 700,000 people have attained DACA status, willingly giving their personal information to the government in exchange for temporary legal status.
However, President Donald Trump has openly campaigned against DACA, and the use of the information that DACA applicants have provided to immigration officials is unknown, now that there is a new administration with a different stance and approach to immigration reform and border security. The information that these DACA applicants have provided could very easily be used against them, which leaves their information vulnerable.
DePauw’s administration has sent several emails informing students of the resources available. There are now several different web pages on DePauw’s website that identify immigration updates, statements of DePauw’s institutional support, and on-campus resources.
Among the statements of institutional support that President McCoy has signed is a joint letter to President Trump urging him to condemn any forms of harassment and violence related to President Trump, as well as a letter signed by many other college presidents in support of upholding and continuing DACA.
Myrna Hernandez, dean of students, outlined the difficulties of keeping students informed. “I think the challenge we have is that the situation is unfolding on a daily basis, so every day there are different new things,” said Hernandez. “What we are trying to do is offer support, resources, and programs, for folks to be able to get their questions answered, seek information, develop new opportunities for learning, regardless of whether or not this is a situation that pertains to them personally.”
In addition to the resources provided by the administration, Angie Nally, director of Public Safety, provided clarification for Public Safety protocol. There are concerns nationwide about the role of ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) in the confinement and deportation of undocumented immigrants and DACA recipients, especially now that the Trump administration has pledged to crack down on illegal immigration.
Nally stated that Public Safety’s policy would stay the same as long as it was not in violation of federal law. As far as reporting students to ICE, Nally said, “We wouldn’t be contacting any federal agency about an alcohol arrest. If that person brutally injured another person and did some horrible awful thing, like an active shooter terrorist, then that’s a different scenario. But I would say that for a normal routine student misbehavior it is not our place or practice to call ICE.”
Additionally, Nally commented on the general protocol of ICE’s interaction with local police departments. “In the event that a police department interacts with a person and they are not sure what their status is or it’s important to identify them, then they can contact ICE,” said Nally, “And then ICE does the immigration investigation, not the local police. And very rarely does ICE contact the local police to ask them to do anything on their behalf.”
While Nally maintained that Public Safety was committed to the protection and safety of DePauw’s students, she acknowledged that they could only go so far. “If a person’s walking down the street and ICE interacts with them, there’s not a lot that we can do to interfere with a federal investigation,” said Nally. “You are talking about civil disobedience at that point.”
While President McCoy has emphasized that DePauw can be totally committed to its students without becoming a sanctuary campus, there are students and faculty who are opposed to this notion. Over 85% of DePauw faculty voted in favor of passing a motion in support of DePauw becoming a sanctuary campus and hundreds of students marched on campus and called for DePauw to become a sanctuary campus.
Senior international student Ia Tserodze joined in the protests and expressed her opinion on President McCoy’s denial of sanctuary campus status. “The term sanctuary campus is just a term. But I do think that to a certain degree it gives more reassurance to students who are here. Emails are great, but not many people remember them,” said Tserodze. “DePauw does not do a good job of advertising the resources that is has. I honestly don’t think there are many people that know that there are people they can resort to.”
Claire Halffield, student body president for DePauw, reinforced the idea that DePauw should be a welcoming place for all students. “I think it’s vital that students and prospective students know that DePauw is a place where you can feel cherished, loved, accepted, for who you are no matter where you come from,” said Halffield. “One thing that I know that is true is that the administration seems to want to be transparent about what they can and cannot provide for those students.”
In the upcoming weeks, DePauw will continue to provide information to students regarding immigration updates. This Thursday at 4:00 p.m., Immigration law expert Jenifer Brown will be coming to provide the latest updates, and there is a support group that meets bi-weekly on Tuesdays from 6-7 p.m. As this is an ongoing issue, there will be more updates in the future as events unfold.