Student leaders, immigrant advocates press U. to become 'sanctuary campus' for immigrants

SALT LAKE CITY — Amid the ongoing crackdown on illegal immigration by federal officials, some at the University of Utah are pressing university officials to take action to safeguard the interests of immigrant students.

The efforts to establish the university as "a sanctuary campus" for immigrants date at least to last spring and will be a focus of a University of Utah board of trustees meeting on Tuesday.

"We've been able to really see firsthand how much fear there is on campus, like among immigrant students, workers," said Samantha Reagan, a member of the leadership of Mecha de U of U, a student advocacy group for Latino, immigrant and other students.

Joint Resolution 10, or JR10, outlines an array of actions proponents would like U. leaders to take on behalf of immigrant students in establishing the university as "a sanctuary campus." The specific actions sought run the gamut, from issuance of a public statement declaring the U. a sanctuary campus for students regardless of citizenship or immigration status to implementation of increased training geared to immigrants about their rights, among other things.

Two bodies representing U. students, the Associated Students of the University of Utah Assembly and Senate, each approved resolutions of support in the spring for JR10. At Tuesday's board of trustees meeting, ASUU Student Body President Erica Stringham will offer a presentation to the university officials on the matter, though they aren't expected to take action.

"We are providing it for the board's awareness as an example of the issues and priorities being raised by students," reads her written report in the board of trustees meeting agenda packet.

Any change or concrete action would have to come from the university administration or state education officials, and Reagan said Mecha de U of U representatives, while supportive of JR10, have also sought talks with U. officials. Organization members have been pressing for change for about a year, according to Reagan, mindful of increased efforts by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents across Utah and beyond to detain and deport immigrants in the country illegally.

"So many of our members come from immigrant backgrounds, and we have a really deep history in the Chicano student movement," she said. "They're seeing that these ICE escalations are happening all around the country."

She said reps from Mecha and a local of the Communications Workers of America union representing university employees have teamed with some of the student government leaders backing JR10 in reaching out to university officials.

"Right now we are hopeful that we're going to be able to see some of these changes come roll out, hopefully this coming fall. But that continues to be in the works, and we'll have to see how these negotiations with admin continue to go," she said. Increased training geared to the immigrant community and others about the rights of immigrants, she thinks, might be one of the more "actionable" steps U. officials could take.

Among the other provisions of JR10 are assurances from university officials that they will limit their cooperative interactions with federal immigration officials.

U. officials limited in what they can do

A university representative, meantime, said U. officials have met with some of the students involved in the issue, echoing Reagan. University officials, though, are limited in what they can do.

"A request for a state university to adopt a position or policy regarding immigration enforcement raises questions involving state and federal law. Such matters extend beyond a university's board of trustees' delegated authority and are more appropriately considered at a system level by the Utah Board of Higher Education and the Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education," said Christopher Nelson, the U.'s chief university relations officer.

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He also pointed to a university statement from March in which Keith Squires, the U.'s chief safety officer, expressed reticence about entering into a formal agreement with ICE related to enforcement of immigration law on the campus. Among JR10's many provisions are calls for university officials to forego such arrangements and to require court orders if immigration officials want to enter private university spaces.

"University police have not and do not intend to engage in federal immigration enforcement," Squires told the board of trustees on March 10, according to the statement.

The university, Nelson also noted, has provided general guidance to faculty and staff on possible immigration enforcement action on the campus. "Typically, a law enforcement agency must present the university with a judicial subpoena, warrant or another court order to comply with law and enter a private space or obtain private information from the university," the guidance reads.

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