Since the recent detainments of university students expressing support for Palestine, students from the University of New Hampshire (UNH) have requested that the school be declared a “sanctuary campus.”
The UNH Palestinian Solidarity Coalition (PSC) wrote a letter to UNH President Elizabeth Chilton, outlining the group’s safety concerns, according to a New Hampshire Public Radio (NHPR) article.
Chilton responded to those students with a letter of her own, stating, “Declaring UNH a ‘sanctuary campus’ would not provide additional legal protection and could mislead international students and scholars about UNH’s power to intervene in enforcement actions.” This letter was shared with NHPR by a university spokesperson.
If there is not a legal way to protect international students, how can UNH provide support for these students? It is important that the university should provide their students with reassurance but it seems as though they are having trouble with how to go about that.
Stephanie Black, an organizer of the UNH PSC, expressed her concerns to NHPR: “We felt currently that UNH has been very vague and quite frankly a little too silent in regards to how they’re going to move forward if a student is abducted by ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] on campus and how they’re going to protect the status of students.”
While I am no legal expert, I believe UNH should start with effectively communicating to the student body. If the university is more concerned about going against federal law enforcement than the safety of their students, how can said students continue to learn in fear?
Chilton expressed additional concerns in her letter, saying, “Additionally, there are other reasons to believe that public declarations such as the ones you are suggesting may inadvertently put members of our community in more jeopardy of being targeted.”
I believe this only adds to the vagueness of previous statements made by Chilton. If there are other reasons to believe that students would face additional harm, what are they? And how can UNH support its students regardless?
While there may not be legal protections provided by declaring UNH a “sanctuary campus,” UNH can make a commitment to enforcing policies that further protect international students, such as refusing to provide names of international students and protesters. It would also show that UNH cares about the education of its student body, especially considering the backlash the president has received over her previous response to student-led protests.
President Donald Trump’s administration and ICE have shown they are willing to interrupt learning at all costs to get rid of so-called “illegal aliens,” but the American people need to stand tall and speak out against such unlawful acts, and that includes UNH.
Madelyn Marabella can be contacted at
mmarabella@kscequinox.com
