A recent directive by President Donald Trump’s administration to rescind a 2011 policy barring Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents from conducting operations in areas deemed sensitive, including schools and churches, has raised questions about how Keene State College and the city of Keene would respond if asked to assist in immigration enforcement raids.
ICE had been restricted from operating in sensitive areas, including K-12 public schools, college campuses, places of worship and hospitals under a previous directive issued by former ICE Director John T. Morton in 2011.
Former Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Benjamine Huffman rescinded the directive on Monday, Jan. 20.
College campuses were previously deemed a sensitive area under previous federal policy.
The Equinox reached out to Director of Campus Safety and Compliance Chris Buckley, who declined to comment on how the recent directives may interact with the student community, citing concerns over the uncertainty of the developing situation via email.
“I am not in a position to comment on the recent directives of the Trump Administration,” stated Buckley.
“There are changes happening daily, and the true impact of the directives may not be known for some time,” added Buckley.
Coordinator of Global Education Lisa Johnson said the directive isn’t likely to impact students with student visas.
“As of right now, based on my understanding of the executive orders, students who are legally here in the United States with student visas supported by any institutions of higher education are not meant to be the target of these raids,” said Johnson.
According to KSC President Melinda Treadwell, the college is currently working on a plan to address the handling of ICE cases and issues related to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), adding that more information will be available soon.
The recent federal directive has raised questions about sanctuary cities, a broad term related to cities that implement policies that restrict perceived extreme immigration enforcement.
According to Keene Mayor Jay Kahn, the city will not impede federal authorities but strives to be a welcoming and supportive community for immigrants.
Keene Police Department Chief Steven Stewart said the city police department would not be able to involve themselves in immigration enforcement efforts that do not coincide with local criminal cases.
“We’re busy with a full criminal caseload, and we don’t have the time or resources to be involved in the enforcement of non-criminal immigration enforcement laws,” said Stewart.
“We aren’t at full staff, and to entertain being involved with anything involved with non-criminal immigration law is not within our bandwidth,” added Stewart.
“We do have to and want to cooperate with federal authorities if a person they’re looking for is on a terrorist watch list or a known criminal violent offender from another country or something like that. Those are matters of public safety, but if it came to being asked to do roundups on places they thought there may be non-criminal migrants, that wouldn’t be our purview,” added Stewart.
Judith Reed is a volunteer with the Keene Immigrant and Refugee Partnership, a nonprofit organization that advocates for immigrants and refugees in Keene, and Project Home, a volunteer organization that places individuals legally seeking asylum with temporary housing provided by local volunteer hosts, as well as other services.
According to Reed, a bill that is currently making its way through the state legislature that would ban sanctuary cities, known as H.B. 511, could potentially deter immigrants from reporting crimes and seeking police help.
“The idea that there’s a thing called sanctuary city isn’t true, because it’s really more of a blanket term for cities that have resolutions or ordinances in place to try to welcome immigrants instead of an actual thing,” said Reed.
According to Reed, the law that would force local law enforcement to collude with ICE and CBP is dangerous because it has the potential to deter undocumented immigrants from reporting crimes out of fear.
“This is something that a lot of police chiefs are opposed to, because they recognize that in order to keep the community safe, people need to report crimes,” said Reed.
“Somebody who is undocumented isn’t going to report a crime if it will lead to them being deported,” added Reed.
Reed encouraged concerned individuals to learn about their rights and what to do if confronted by ICE agents.
According to Reed, helpful information, as well as multilingual guides regarding ICE interactions can be found at the Immigrant Legal Resource Center’s website.
Ryan Pacheco can be contacted at
rpacheco@kscequinox.com
