What would you do if U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents showed up at your lecture looking for you? While this might seem like an unthinkable situation, due to recent executive orders from President Donald Trump, ICE now has the authority to enter schools, churches and other previously “private” places to enforce these federal immigration searches. There have yet to be any confirmed reports at schools, but with raised concerns and a subsequent drop in classroom attendance, it has been questioned if universities should be taking more precautions to protect their students. At UConn, administrators have taken steps to protect students, but is it enough? It has been seen throughout history that neutrality is rarely enough to stop injustice. Thus, the question is: how will we respond?
Under the Trump administration ICE has drastically increased its focus on mass deportations. Trump has pledged to remove over 11 million undocumented immigrations and “stem the flow of more migrants coming to the southern border.” As a result, ICE has begun conducting aggressive raids, going door to door and detaining individuals with little oversight. These tactics have led to wrongful deportations, family separations and fear within immigrant communities.
This aggressive enforcement raises serious concerns, not just about immigration policies but also about human rights. These rights have been protected, not just on a national level with the U.S. Constitution but also on an international level with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The 14th Article of the UDHR guarantees the right to seek asylum from persecution while the 9th Article protects against arbitrary detention. Meanwhile its 26th Article protects against discrimination and its 13th Article protects against arbitrary detention. The ICCPR’s 14th Article prohibits detention without a fair trial. The Constitution’s 14th Amendment guarantees due process and equal protection. Ignoring these protects, Trump’s administration is acting in direct violation of both U.S. and international human rights law. With this, it is crucial for institutions like UConn to act and protect the rights of those who are at risk of being deported.
This is not the first time that the United States has violated human rights to such an extent. Laws have been repeatedly used to justify the mass targeting, detention, and removal of certain groups. It is not acknowledged until later that actions are unjust. One such reminder that neutrality is rarely enough to stop injustice is Operation Wetback. This was a U.S. immigration law enforcement campaign that resulted in the mass deportation of Mexican nationals and was inspired by the American public’s anger at the “widespread corruption among employers of sharecroppers and growers along the Mexican border” and at the Border Patrol’s inability to slow the influx of illegal workers. This event was a violation of Due Process and Equal Protection which are protected by the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and the UDHR due the occurrence of racial profiling and denial of fair hearings. Employers, landlords and schools refused to protect the people connected to them who were getting deported. Similarly, ICE is detaining individuals without proper judicial oversight and disproportionately targeting Latinx communities. Thus, in reflecting this event’s relevance to what is currently occurring this event shows us that if no active protections are taken for members of UConn’s community, then UConn could unintentionally facilitate ICE’s ability to track, detain and deport these individuals.
Another reminder of how neutrality is not enough to stop injustice is the Japanese American Internment. This was the forced relocation and incarceration of Japanese Americans during WWI which was inspired by the fear that was created by the attack on Pearl Harbor. Japanese Americans were held in camps with inhuman conditions like that of the conditions of the current ICE detention center immigrants are being held in. The United States acknowledged and apologized for the internment camps through the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, an apology from President Bill Clinton that same year. Even so, ICE continues to detain immigrants in a comparable manner to this day thus continuing to violate Article 9 of the UDHR which protects against arbitrary detention. During the time of which this event was occurring, some institutions decided to stand against the actions of the federal government such as the University of California who tried to help relocate Japanese American students instead of allowing them to be sent to the camps. However, most institutions followed the federal orders allowing for this clear violation of human rights. Again, the remaining quiet institutions allowed for the clear violation of human rights that harmed many for years surrounding this event.
With these examples it is noted that UConn is currently in a position to be able to uphold human rights and prevent history from repeating itself only if they decide to take an active stance against ICE. They are relying on local institutions to facilitate detentions and deportations but if UConn takes this active stance, then they will be able to protect potential victims in our community from having their human rights be violated. Currently, UConn is responding by protecting student information and refusing to detain individuals without a warrant as well as respecting everyone’s right to due process. However, more should be done. Our university should be adopting sanctuary style policies.
While UConn is unable to fully decare itself a sanctuary campus due to being a public university, it can implement policies that will limit ICE’s ability to operate on our campus and protect undocumented students. For instance, UConn currently says that they will not detain a person based on ICE detainers. UConn can further its protection by implementing a policy that will bar campus police from cooperating with ICE, unless there is a judicial warrant, just as some sanctuary cities have done. Along with this, UConn should ensure that campus police are trained on student’s legal rights to prevent them from voluntarily complying with non-mandatory ICE detainment requests. By adopting these policies, UConn can effectively act as a shield for its students from unjust enforcement and ensure that our university remains a place for everyone to learn and be safe.
Thus, in ensuring that UConn does not simply turn a blind eye towards what is occurring like those who did with the internment camps and past immigration crackdowns, our university can prevent history from repeating itself and stand against ICE’s violation of human rights before it is too late.
You used the word Latinx lol