Dear President Bollinger and Provost Coatsworth:


Given that President-elect Trump has vowed to cancel President Obama’s executive actions, such as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) that grants reprieve from deportation and authorizes undocumented youth to lawfully work; And further, that Trump has also proposed to create a deportation task force that would focus on removing undocumented residents, and detain undocumented immigrants who are arrested by law enforcement until they are deported; Trump’s presidency puts the undocumented members of our community at unprecedented risk. The threat to students, faculty, staff and their family members requires a concrete and tangible response from the University.


Therefore, we, the undersigned Columbia students, alumni and faculty strongly urge you to take immediate steps to make Columbia University a sanctuary campus for students, faculty, staff, and their families who may face deportation under President-elect Donald J. Trump’s proposed policies. This entails


>>>Adopting a resolution that actively bans U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other immigration enforcement officials from this campus

 >>>Blocking immigration officials from student information without explicit consent from the student

>>>Making a public statement indicating that the university

                 1) urges the U.S. government to affirmatively protect students who are currently under DACA from removal and

                 2) supports a path to permanent status for these students


An internal 2011 memo shows that ICE considers schools (including universities), hospitals, houses of worship, and public demonstrations “sensitive locations” that subject ICE officers to certain restrictions. (See: https://www.ice.gov/doclib/ero-outreach/pdf/10029.2-policy.pdf) This puts the University in a unique position, which it can and should use to protect undocumented community members from law enforcement. The specter of federal immigration agents on our campus threatens the safety and well being of our students. It disrupts our core mission of education and the promotion of civil discourse, by undermining our commitment to all students, regardless of their immigration status. Columbia rightly offers admission to students without regard to their status. President Bollinger expressed the university’s support for undocumented students in May 2010, in a letter to Senator Charles Schumer supporting the DREAM Act. He stated, “[d]enying young adults [temporary legal status] deprives our universities of the vitality that diverse student bodies inevitably bring to their campuses.”  It is in this spirit that we must pledge to actively protect the members of its community from unfair deportation, investigation, or other intimidation.  


We stand with a national movement led by students to assert campuses as sanctuary spaces. We urge you to act expeditiously to make Columbia a sanctuary campus and protect the most vulnerable members of our community who have called Columbia home. We must live up to the University’s commitment to diversity, justice, and inclusion.

Sincerely,

Undocumented Students Initiative
Columbia University Community