University of New Hampshire President Elizabeth Chilton says the school will not declare itself a “sanctuary campus,” as requested by a group of students who said they were worried about an uptick in immigration arrests of students across the country.
A group of students with the UNH Palestinian Solidarity Coalition outlined their concerns to Chilton in a recent letter. They called on the school to do more to protect students against immigration enforcement and to protect students’ freedom of expression.
“UNH’s current protocol fails to provide any meaningful reassurance that UNH will take decisive action to protect its students should their rights be threatened,” the letter read. “The university must move beyond vague, legally cautious statements and instead outline clear, concrete policies that prioritize student safety, due process, and institutional accountability.”
Stephanie Black, an organizer with the UNH Palestinian Solidarity Coalition, says the group has also been taking steps to educate students about their rights, and to build a network of people who can watch out for potential violations of those rights.
“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 on campus and how they're going to protect the status of students,” Black told NHPR earlier this week.
Public colleges within the University System of New Hampshire shared initial guidance earlier this year on how to respond to immigration enforcement activities on campus.
The UNH president, responding to calls for more action on the issue, called the recent detentions of students on other campuses “deeply troubling.” But she said the school isn’t in a position to resist cooperating with federal law enforcement or other legal warrants.
“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,” Chilton wrote in a letter, shared by a university spokesperson. “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.”
Chilton said the school will keep working on “meaningful and practical steps to support our community.” She pointed to university-led training sessions and other resources meant to educate students, faculty and staff about their rights and responsibilities.
“We will continue to communicate both broadly across campus and directly with our international community to provide support and timely information,” Chilton wrote. “I remain committed to doing everything I can to ensure all our students can safely access the education and opportunities that UNH provides.”
