Occidental offered employee training in Jan. on protocol for immigration enforcement action on campus in the wake of a barrage of immigration policies espoused in President Donald Trump’s executive orders in the last few months, including an expansion of who is targeted for deportation, according to a March 6 email from Occidental’s President Tom Stritikus.
The protocol states that “all personnel who become aware of an immigration officer’s actual or expected presence on campus should immediately notify Campus Safety.”
Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students Vivian Garay Santiago said via email that all students who come into contact with an immigration agent should immediately refer the agent to herself and Chief Human Resource Officer Mel Gamba, the “Designated Campus Officials.” Students may also contact Campus Safety, which will follow the next steps in protocol, such as consulting the Office of the General Counsel.
“Students are required to comply with a judicial warrant but should respectfully request to speak with a Designated Campus Official first, if possible,” Santiago said via email. “For nonemergency situations that do not involve a judicial warrant, there should be an opportunity for a student to refer an agent to the appropriate campus official without having to provide information themselves.”
In his email, Stritikus said groups of faculty and students asked the college to use the OxyAlert system to notify students, faculty and staff when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is present in neighboring communities.
“We are evaluating different ways that we can provide timely information and guidance related to enforcement activity on campus, and we will keep you informed,” the email said.
Occidental’s Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) posted on Instagram an OxyAlert student petition March 3 in conjunction with the Latine Student Union (LSU), Jewish Voices for Peace (JVP) and the Middle Eastern and North African Students Association (MENASA). The post called for students to sign a letter to Stritikus requesting the OxyAlert system be used to notify if ICE or other federal agents come within a 3-mile radius of campus.
“This letter does not obligate you to do anything illegal,” the post said. “Rather, it provides those most vulnerable with the opportunity to make choices about their safety.”
JVP Media Liaison Tobias Lodish (sophomore) said the petition had more than 500 signatures as of March 18.
“I think it’s the school’s responsibility to, at the very least, inform students of the current risk level in the area and to inform all students as to not single out students who are most at risk,” Lodish said. “They use this system to alert students about police presence, about gunshots, even about high winds and flooding. It really wouldn’t be a trailblazing move to utilize the [OxyAlert] system.”
Nora Kahn, the college’s general counsel, said there is some legal risk in using an alert system as proposed. According to Kahn, the college is subject to federal laws that prohibit any concealing or harboring individuals who may be the target of immigration enforcement and laws that prevent obstruction or interfering with federal agents performing their duties.
“We have sought expert legal opinions on this and have consulted with other institutions that are facing similar issues,” Kahn said. “It’s not an area of law that’s really well developed in this particular context.”
Kahn said there are other concerns about using the OxyAlert system.
“The campus alert system is used for a pretty specific purpose, which is to notify people about a health or safety emergency where they need to take some immediate action,” Kahn said. “That’s likely not the scenario that we would find ourselves in if there were simply agents either talking to someone on campus or in the neighboring areas.”
According to Kahn, the college is determined to find appropriate ways to inform people about what they should do if they encounter an immigration enforcement officer, information that she said is more comprehensive than what can be put in a campus safety alert. Kahn also said there are other reasons that ICE or Department of Homeland Security (DHS) employees could be on campus that are unrelated to immigration enforcement, such as monitoring the visa program.
“Using an alert system for that kind of situation might create a sense of urgency or even panic that would be disproportionate to the situation,” Kahn said.
Kahn said immigration agents coming onto campus is not a likely situation.
“Given the size of Occidental College and the government’s stated agenda, at least their priorities for immigration enforcement, the information that we have so far indicates that they are targeting communities that have a high volume of undocumented people. That’s not typically a college campus,” Kahn said.
Kahn said Campus Safety, as the primary point of contact for immigration agents, would try to take the conversation off campus to reduce unnecessary exposure or concern among people on campus.
“[Campus Safety has] also taken a training recently, and they understand their obligations under California law and the California Attorney General’s guidance which limit the extent to which we should provide voluntary assistance to immigration agents,” Kahn said.
The protocols state that Campus Safety does not ask students about their immigration status or provide personal information about individuals for immigration enforcement officers. According to Kahn, students may decide not to provide immigration or citizenship information, and this would not count against them when seeking admission or enrollment. However, students are sometimes required to submit information for other reasons, such as to comply with visa regulations, Kahn said.
“The College will only ever use the immigration information it receives for legitimate educational purposes and as described under FERPA — not for immigration enforcement or to make admissions decisions,” Kahn said via email.
Kahn said the college does not keep a list of students with certain documentation statuses.
“Employees are not required to disclose their citizenship or immigration status when applying to work at Oxy. But once hired, they do need to provide documents verifying their eligibility to work in the United States,” Kahn said via email.
The college held a Know Your Rights information session Jan. 29 as well as a free walk-in legal clinic at the Intercultural Community Center Jan. 28 for students with questions about their documentation or immigration status. The college also held town halls, including a staff town hall Feb. 21.
Kiana Gonzalez (senior), co-coordinator for Comparte which provides English-language workshops for Occidental staff, said Comparte created Know Your Rights cards in Spanish to give to workers. Gonzalez said the staff town hall hosted by the college was mainly in English.
“Most of our staff that speak Spanish are the ones that may be needing this information,” Gonzalez said. “They didn’t feel like they were able to catch on to everything.”
According to Kahn, college guidance for campus personnel is to not provide voluntary information or access to immigration enforcement efforts except in two specific exigent circumstances. The first exception is when there is a valid judicial warrant allowing access to a nonpublic space, which the college’s legal counsel would review.
The second exception is if an officer on campus says that there is a safety emergency that requires immigration enforcement to immediately access an area, Kahn said.
“In that situation, we need to provide access, take all the information that we can, including the officer’s name, badge — document that whole situation,” Kahn said.
Stritikus’s email defines what is a public and nonpublic space on campus.
“The College considers buildings and areas where access is physically restricted to be nonpublic spaces. This includes, for example, areas that are restricted by key card, locked doors, gates or reception personnel,” the email said. “Public spaces include the Quad, events that are open to the general public and unlocked buildings during posted business hours.”
According to the email, other areas may be deemed nonpublic when an expectation of privacy has been established, such as a class or meeting that is in session.
Associate Director of International Programs Marisa Grover Mofford said via email that students attending Occidental on F-1 or J-1 student visas are non-immigrant students and therefore are not the target of ICE.
“What I have been doing is reminding students about documents to carry — especially if traveling internationally — and the fact that scrutiny at the port of entry in the US is likely to be more intensive,” Mofford said via email.
According to Occidental’s website, “The College can also connect students and their families with an immigration attorney for legal consultation sessions of up to one hour, free of charge.”
Contact Ava LaLonde at lalonde@oxy.edu
