Colleges and universities in some US states are considering becoming ‘sanctuary campuses’ amid activist pressure and student fears after Donald Trump’s win in last month’s Presidential election. College administrators in New Mexico, which has the largest percentage of Latino residents, are considering proposals to grant protections to undocumented immigrants studying there.
Advocates in other states, such as California, Illinois, Texas, Georgia, and Minnesota are pushing private and state universities to do the same. Petitions are being circulated by students and professors on campuses belonging to the University of Illinois to turn those schools into sanctuary campuses. Over 1700 signatures were gathered by one group in Chicago and given over to school leaders.
The College of Southern Nevada, Nevada State College, and UNLV are also being pushed to declare that they are sanctuary campuses by an education philanthropist in the state. The movement follows the President-Elect’s promise to put an end to the deferred action executive order issued by President Barack Obama, which gave immigrant students living illegally in the US temporary protected status. Trump also promised to prevent sanctuary cities from getting federal funding and to create a deportation task force, although he has not mentioned sanctuary campuses at all.
Columbia University, New York recently announced plans to offer both financial support and sanctuary to immigrant students. It has been joined by Connecticut College and Wesleyan University. Some advocates want colleges to refuse to cooperate with authorities on issues relating to immigration, while others want immigration authorities to be banned from campuses altogether.