http://udreview.com/assanis-signs-sanctuary-campus-petition/
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Minji Kong/THE REVIEW Alongside a growing list of 491 colleges and universities, President Dennis Assanis signed his name in support of undocumented students last week in a nationwide letter circulated out of Pomona College. BY LARISSA KUBITZ, SENIOR REPORTER AND KACEY CORNELY , STAFF REPORTER President Dennis Assanis signed a statement in support of undocumented students last week, alongside a growing list of 491 college and university presidents nationwide. The letter, circulated out of Pomona College, urges universities to support the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Policy (DACA), which took effect in 2012. This policy gives undocumented young people, including students and military veterans, a renewable reprieve which allows them to legally live and work in the United States for two years. According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, because the policy never became law, it can be revoked at any moment. President-elect Donald Trump suggests that the removal of DACA is a “high priority.” Assanis’ support for undocumented students comes during the same week he received a petitionadvocating for the university to become a sanctuary campus. The phrase “sanctuary campus” is a status a college or university can obtain that protects its students who are undocumented immigrants. The idea of a “sanctuary campus” stemmed from “sanctuary cities,” which have existed since the 1980s. In these cities, which include Philadelphia and Baltimore, among others, city officials and police officers do not assist with the deportation efforts of federal immigration authorities. Pascha Bueno-Hansen, a women and gender studies professor who helped create the petition, explained that the idea of a college being a safe location for undocumented students stems from the Immigration and Customs policy that considers schools to be “sensitive locations,” along with some other public institutions such as hospitals. The term “sanctuary campus” gives the university the power not to voluntarily reveal the immigration status of its enrolled students. She added that a number of prominent universities have announced their stance as sanctuaries, most recently the University of Pennsylvania and Swarthmore College. Other universities that have been established as sanctuary campuses include Portland University, Reed College and Wesleyan University. The motivation behind the faculty members’ push to raise Delaware to the same status, Bueno-Hansen said, is simple: “Love. Love of our community, love of our families, love of all us, all of us who are Latinx,” she said. Jean-Philippe Laurenceau, professor of psychological and brain sciences, also collaborated with fellow UD professors to create the petition. “The goal of the petition is not to voice a set of demands, rather to open up a line of conversation, dialogue and collaboration with the administration, and hopefully with input from the student’s themselves, we can address what needs to be done,” he said. Laurenceau expressed that the threat of removing the DACA policy creates a stressful and distracting learning environment for undocumented students. “These students are going to be really frightened and scared,” he said. “It’s going to affect their ability to focus on their education.” Laurenceau chose to get involved with the petition for many reasons. For one, some of his former and current students are undocumented immigrants. He explained that the immigrant’s story is what our country was founded on. “These are very vulnerable members of our community, and they cannot stand up for themselves,” Laurenceau said. “So who is going to stand up for them? I feel like that’s the least I could do to honor the journey my parents went through to give me the opportunity to be an American.” The DACA policy now offers temporary protection and work authorization to more than 700,000 undocumented students. Laurenceau explained that before DACA students were forced to live in the shadows. These undocumented students lived in fear of being questioned by police, for something as simple as being stopped for a traffic violation. The officers may ask undocumented students for ID, which they would not have without DACA. “DACA allows immigrants to get a license, to be able to work and to attend school,” Laurenceau said. Bueno-Hansen also expressed concern for undocumented students already at Delaware who live in fear of being torn from their families or deported. Bueno-Hansen wants the focus to remain on the progress being made with the petition, as well as President Assanis’ gesture (of signing the Pomona College letter) in favor of the movement. Assanis could not be reached for comment on the two petitions. “[Assanis] has stated his willingness and interest to support DACA,” Bueno-Hansen said. “In spirit he supports this effort. That needs to be celebrated.” Correction: The initial headline for this story read “Assanis signs sanctuary campus petition.” President Assanis did not sign the petition distributed by faculty to make UD a sanctuary campus; rather, he signed a national petition circulated by Pomona College affirming his support for undocumented students and DACA.
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