Immigration Enforcement Issues on Campus
By Matthew Stear
Chaffey's Chief Legal Officer Ryan L. Church discusses what to do when faced with ICE agents and lays out your rights as a student.
As ICE is ramping up operations across the country, many students are faced with the threat of encountering an agent themselves. Here at Chaffey College there are resources available to students who are being affected during these times.
A previous zoom conference meeting hosted by Chaffey's Chief Legal Officer Ryan L. Church covered various questions about what to do when approached by ICE agents. He also provided resources available for students and staff that are faced with these immigration enforcement issues.
The meeting began with the question, "What are best practices when faced with an ICE agent on campus?"
Officer Church stressed that one of the best things to do is to direct any agent, or person enforcing immigration laws, to himself and/or Chief Griffin (Head of Chaffey College Police Department). Church stated, “You have no obligation to help them, but you cannot impede.” It is important to know that if a student impedes on this process, the agents have authority to take further actions.
In the meeting, Officer Church detailed a prime example of the type of behavior that could be construed as disruptive to ICE procedures. Retelling the story of Milwalkee Judge Hannah Dugan, who was arrested in April of this year and indicted on federal charges in May for allegedly assisting an undocumented person in avoiding ICE. With this case, Church emphasizes how seemingly innocuous behavior could have pushback.
The safest thing to do when dealing with ICE is to simply not engage and direct them to the proper faculty.
Any student who is asking for help with immigration issues is highly encouraged to seek out Dr. Tomeika Carter, Executive Director of Student Support Services, and Hugo Flores, Director of Admissions and Records. Both of these individuals have resources available for students who are looking for assistance during an immigration issue.
Officer Church stated:
“We gave Tomeika and Hugo a ‘dry run’ through a bunch of hypotheticals. They charted it all out already, that way if and when this happens it won’t be ‘Ok, what do we do?’”
He also said that these hypothetical situations have been run by himself as well, so the whole team is on board and ready to help students.
Officer Church has done his homework and knows how to handle these situations, so be sure to follow the steps above when caught in an immigration enforcement issue. Always remain calm, and direct any immigration officer or people asking immigration related questions to these staff members of Chaffey College. They will fight for you.
