PHOTO ILLUSTRATION/ THE RIDER GRAPHIC
UTRGV President Guy Bailey says it would not be a good thing to declare the school a sanctuary campus at this time.
“There is no problem right now, and so, you stand a much greater chance of creating a problem if you make that declaration,” Bailey said in an interview Wednesday. “I know there’s been a lot of negative rhetoric in the campaign, but all the signals we get from Congress is that [mass deportation] is not gonna happen. … I think our DREAMers are safe and we are certainly supportive of them. I think this the best way to protect them.”
In light of the recent U.S. presidential election, nine student organizations have joined forces and petitioned Bailey to make the school a Sanctuary University.
The initial goal was to gather 500 signatures from students and members of the Rio Grande Valley community, but the petition has now received about 1,500 on the website, change.org.
The petition, addressed to Bailey, was written and signed by the Minority Affairs Council LUCHA (La Unión Chicanx Hijxs de Aztlán), the Center for Mexican American Studies, Mexican American Studies Program, the Center for Bilingual Studies, the Muslim Students’ Association, WAKE-UP (Women Artistically Kollecting Experiencias-Unidas Prosperando), Voto Latino and BESO (Bilingual Education Student Organization).
The petition states that UTRGV has about 951 DREAMers, the most in Texas. Due to its proximity to the Mexican border, the organizations believe the institution should not remain neutral.
“We the students and faculty affiliated with the UTRGV Center for Mexican American Studies cannot remain idle and silent during these unpredictable times. We support our peers and students, especially our most disenfranchised, and petition that our University administration stand in solidarity with the calls on at least 130 other universities nationwide and declare UTRGV a sanctuary campus,” the Nov. 17 petition states.
Gov. Greg Abbott tweeted last Thursday, “Texas will not tolerate sanctuary campuses or cities. I will cut funding for any state campus if it establishes sanctuary status. #tcot.”
Monica Alvarez Suarez, a graduate student in Mexican American studies and graduate assistant in the Center for Mexican American Studies, said the groups are asking the administration to make a public statement in which “they offer support to the undocumented students, to the students from different countries and other type of minorities.”
Fear and anxiety linger in every immigrant community, and not without reason. The campaign rhetoric of President-elect Donald Trump warned them of displacement in their status in the U.S.
“Students, families and community members are fearful, and we need university leadership and locally elected officials to emerge in public support of all of our students. We are asking for assurance that campus police will not question anyone’s religious affiliation or immigration status, nor allow ICE to question anyone’s immigration status. We ask the university to make a public commitment to not release any records regarding the immigration status of students and their family members to ICE,” the petition states.
Moreover, the organizations ask the university to advocate for Senate Bill 1528 (formerly known as House Bill 1403), which allows nonresident students access to in-state tuition rates at Texas public institutions of higher education and a variety of forms of state financial aid. For this reason, they ask that UTRGV create a staff position and a center for undocumented students to assist Senate Bill 1528 students and future students “who need support in enrollment, retention, and success (including and not limited to undocumented, DACA recipients, and non-citizens),” the petition states.
Abraham Diaz Alonso, a Mexican American studies and history major and member of the Minority Affairs Council, believes there is a need to establish a DREAMer center because it is difficult to navigate the system, given the fact that from middle school to college there is no one to guide them in the process with the right information.
“There is nobody that is specialized in information that could benefit students like me. … There is not a single person that could help you out with legal advice, with advice in how to navigate the general system, and this DREAMers center could be of great help to all the students and would be an open space to discuss different subjects, not only for the undocumented students, but for every student that is in need of information of any kind. Also, to have it open for the students of the Valley community, so they can have access to the information as well,” Diaz said.
Patrick Gonzales, assistant vice president for Marketing and Communications, said, “No decision has been made regarding the sanctuary university, but we want our students to know that as we move forward, we will continue to support them and do what we can to make sure they continue to have success as a student here at UTRGV.”
Bailey said he has been following the issue “very closely” and has seen no indicators of student deportation, which is why he is planning to meet with students and organization leaders as soon as he can.
However, the effort to achieve the declaration of sanctuary campus across the nation is being fueled by not only undocumented students but also other social sectors that are not in favor of mass deportation.
Despite the lack of precise information, the National Immigration Law Center recommends not to apply for DACA if it is the first time “due to the uncertainty of what will happen with DACA and the legitimate fears experienced by immigrant communities, we recommend not applying for DACA until we see what happens next year under a Trump administration.”
