Community members respond to the University's compliance with ICE

At a Faculty Council meeting on Jan. 24, Chancellor Lee Roberts announced that the University will comply if U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement seeks undocumented students on campus during the Trump administration.

Roberts' announcement comes in the wake of a new directive from the Department of Homeland Security ending protection from immigration enforcement in “sensitive” locations including colleges, churches and hospitals.

Carmen Huerta-Bapat, a teaching assistant professor in the Curriculum of Global Studies, said the Chancellor’s announcement creates more anxiety for professors. 

“Everyone is going to act differently,” she said. “It's going to be very chaotic, absolutely, because it's not like a top-down mandate from the University, other than ‘comply.’”

Some students reacted to the chancellor’s statement with disappointment and fear.

Ashley Hernandez, the political action co-chair of Latinx student organization Mi Pueblo, said Roberts’ announcement restricts students' sense of freedom and safety on campus.

“It's very disappointing, and it's honestly scary, because for a lot of us, people who are undocumented or documented in this environment, in school, we're just here to get an education,” she said. “We're just here to better ourselves.”

Mi Pueblo's co-president, Alan Rojas-Rodriguez, said there is a newfound fear to enter public spaces with immigration officials now having open access to campus. He said for some students, even venturing to club meetings now feels like a risk.

In an email statement to The Daily Tar Heel, UNC Media Relations wrote that UNC is monitoring federal actions to determine what impact they may have on the University.

“We know that the changes to the immigration enforcement may cause concern for students who are worried about their friends and families. We want everyone to feel supported and informed during this time,” Media Relations wrote.

But Rojas-Rodriguez said he does not feel like the University is taking the necessary steps to make students feel safe. He expressed dismay at the lack of communication between the Chancellor’s office and student organizations, including Mi Pueblo.

“He has not tried to reach out actively from his end and that definitely hurts because, as the largest Latinx student organization on our campus, we do have a definite say within our community as a whole,” he said. “So, for him not to be able to open up those lines of communication —actively trying to reach out, actively trying to come to events — is definitely hurtful.”

The chancellor’s announcement also raised questions regarding the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. The act protects students’ personal information and academic records from unauthorized disclosure.

Huerta-Bapat highlighted the contradictory nature of the new directive and FERPA.

 “We're not even supposed to talk to parents about students’ grades, but here we are expected to talk to ICE officials about students’ immigration status,” she said. “This makes no sense whatsoever.” 

In his address to the Faculty Council, Roberts noted that he is well aware of the anxiety surrounding the change in immigration policy.

“We’re going to continue to try to serve our immigrant students and scholars as best we can,” Roberts said. “It’s a hugely important population for us and we want them to feel supported and welcomed and encouraged.”

While waiting to hear more from federal and University administration, student organizations have stepped up to provide resources for concerned community members.

A collaborative Instagram post between Mi Pueblo, Amexcan UNC, UNC Arab Student Organization, UNC Asian American Students Association and UNC Black Student Movement provided a statement denouncing Roberts’ declaration of compliance.

The post presented a list of demands for the chancellor. This included providing faculty training on how to better support undocumented students and meeting with students and faculty to learn about how new policies impact undocumented individuals on campus.

Huerta-Bapat also stressed the need for an official stance from the University, citing the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School district’s statement of support for immigrant communities. 

The message stated that the school district is united in its support for all of its students and families.

"Today and every day, our schools remain safe, welcoming and inclusive places where every child has the right to learn, grow and thrive without fear," the statement read.

Huerta-Bapat said she was "deeply disappointed in the lack of humanity" that the University has expressed toward immigrants.

“The fact that, in this particular situation, we are not caring about the human component, we're not saying anything about these people, really signals that there is a hierarchy in humanity,” she said.

@adelepmorris17

@dailytarheel | university@dailytarheel