Tribune News Service
An ICE agent dressed in protective clothing. Some WSU faculty and students are preparing for the possibility of ICE officers stopping students on campus.// Un agente de ICE vestido en vestimentas protectoras. Miembros estudiantes y de la facultad se preparan para la posibilidad de que un agente de ICE los detente en el campus.
Since President Donald Trump took office, raids from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement have been on the rise in Ogden, with documented sightings reported throughout the city and surrounding areas.
With tensions rising, it brings to light questions about the safety of students on campus, especially with it being a state-funded college. States can be ordered to work with federal agents, including immigration agencies such as ICE.
This means that students can be stopped by ICE on campus, which Weber State University has acknowledged could happen in an email that was sent to only international students. The email contained “good practices” that international students should abide by, like having multiple valid forms of identification on them, including an I-20 and I-90.
An anonymous source affiliated with Weber State claimed that the university had found out that certain centers and faculty had been keeping Red Cards on hand. The university ordered those specific locations and people to dispose of the Red Cards, stating that they weren’t authorized to have them.
Weber made faculty and staff throw away valuable resources that were created to help immigrants and undocumented individuals understand what their rights are. On the card, it includes basic rights that state what to do if a person is ever stopped by an immigration officer.
“Do not open the door. Do not answer any questions. Do not sign anything. Ask the agent if you are free to leave. Give this card to the agent,” is written on one side of the Red Card, with an available script on the other side that can be read.
While the higher-ups within the university took part in censorship, that doesn’t mean it was entirely successful; many believe that the students are the most powerful entity in any university.
Students are allowed to distribute flyers and educational materials around campus, with Red Cards being the most passed around in the past few weeks, especially since Trump took office again on Jan. 20.
Multiple students who wish to remain anonymous due to fears of retaliation have been behind the passage of Red Cards to various international and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Dreamer students. They have even organized various secret phrases that can be used to request access to a Red Card, along with information on websites that have Red Cards translated into different languages to be used.
Weber State Police Department and Weber State University’s PR team declined to comment on the rights of students, only sending out an announcement that states, “The federal government engages its officers specifically to enforce immigration matters. The WSUPD does not ask anyone about their immigration status and does not detain anyone solely on the basis of their immigration status.”
While on-campus police won’t ask about a student’s immigration status, if a federal agency demands to step onto campus grounds, they have to be admitted. The rights of students on campus are a muddled affair and one that university officials don’t seem keen on answering.
Weber State is a university that prides itself on welcoming everyone and will do everything it can to help its students, but the limited protection for ICE raids leaves many international students feeling that the university’s care expires when it comes to them.
Leer en Español aquí.