In light of President Donald Trump’s recent executive orders and policies on immigration, Goshen College has begun establishing protocols for the possibility of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers appearing on campus. Amidst feelings of fear and anxiety from students who may be affected by these changes to national policy, GC leaders are doing their best to provide reassurance.
I think the likelihood of actually ICE coming to Goshen College campus is low ...
— Juan Pacheco
Peter Claassen, a supervising attorney at the Goshen branch of the National Immigrant Justice Center, described the specific section of ICE that would be most likely to be encountered on campus as the “enforcement and removal operation.” In other words, he said they are “the ICE officers you’d see out in the community, potentially that would be making stops, conducting raids.”
Though ICE as a department has existed for some time, this recent spike in attention is due to the actions of President Trump in his first few weeks in office. Claassen said that one such action is “the removal of the ‘sensitive location’ memo, which was a memo that’s been in force during several of the previous administrations, basically telling ICE agents that they shouldn’t go into churches, schools, universities, colleges, healthcare facilities to detain people.”
With the “sensitive locations” policy gone, Mennonite Church USA, the denomination Goshen College is affiliated with, joined a coalition of over two dozen other religious groups and denominations in filing a complaint against President Trump’s Department of Homeland Security.
The complaint says that this policy change violates the plaintiff’s First Amendment rights and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. ‘Mennonite Church USA et al. v. United States Department of Homeland Security et al.’ was filed on Feb. 11 in federal district court in Washington D.C.
This new possibility of ICE presence has raised fears specifically within the Hispanic community on campus. “It causes so many mixed feelings, especially as students,” said Sara Olayo-Evangelista, a sophomore biochemistry major.
ICE is not guaranteed to appear on campus, according to Juan Pacheco, student success program coordinator and a liason to the NIJC and Mennonite Central Committee. Pacheco said, “I think the likelihood of actually ICE coming to Goshen College campus is low, but nonetheless we take things seriously.”
These possibilities are being taken seriously not only by faculty but also by students. Olayo-Evangelista is part of a student task force, of which she said, “We just started organizing, and we’ve been meeting together to come up with ideas to help out the community even more.” These ideas include an upcoming event called “Voices On Paper” and a protest being held next week.
According to Suzanne Ehst, the associate academic dean, one of the primary proactive steps being taken by GC is informing the public. “Education is power, right? I think educating people around basic Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights, and the scope of those rights, I think that is one of the most powerful tools we have,” Ehst said.
According to Gilberto Pérez Jr., vice president for student life and Hispanic serving initiatives and dean of students, that education includes emails to students, “Know Your Rights” workshops and cards, and meetings with students. He said, “We’re not perfect, but we want to try to get it as right as possible.”
One email that was sent out to students encouraged them to defer directly to campus safety, should they encounter an ICE official on campus.
According to Chad Coleman, director of campus safety, GC has a different task force comprised
of several staff and faculty members that is dedicated to being as informed as possible. They are in communication with third-party legal counsel and the National Immigrant Justice Center to ensure they are doing all they can to protect students.
Part of that protection is knowing the difference between the types of warrants that officials might be carrying. One is called an administrative warrant and the other is called a judicial warrant.
According to Coleman, an administrative warrant is “for
lack of better terms, a note from their boss to go seek out this person in this particular area.”
Claassen confirmed that administrative warrants do not allow ICE to enter private spaces, saying, “An administrative warrant requires you to do nothing … An administrative warrant does not give them any legal authority to enter without permission.”
According to an email that was sent out to GC faculty, the exact scope of “private spaces” is still being defined, but it includes residential hall rooms, private offices and most likely in-session classrooms.
On the other hand, Coleman explained that a judicial warrant, or court order, will be signed by a judge and will have seals and court documentation on it.
Regardless of the kind of warrant, there are many nuances to the way they are written. Coleman said that even a warrant which gives GC’s address is not flawless, “because we have one address and 26 buildings on campus. I would want more clarity on what that order actually provides access to.”
Claassen said that these efforts have been very successful: “It makes a huge difference in the community when people know their rights.”
The email sent out to faculty gave short descriptions of best practices in the classroom. Ehst said there was a focus on knowing “about the right to privacy and the right to remain silent, the right to not self-incriminate and helping faculty understand how that would apply to a classroom space.”
“I don’t authorize you to enter my class,” Ehst said, referencing the type of language staff are recommended to use.
According to Pérez Jr., it all comes down to the needs of students and the resources available to them. He said, “Sure, there’s a big national change in terms of a lot of executive orders, but if you stay focused on what we’re here to do, which is to ensure that we have a safe environment for all students, then everything we do is going to try to be to support them as much as possible.”
Ehst summarized the sentiment, saying, “That’s probably the conversation that’s going on across the nation, is just, ‘what does it mean to be community?’”
