This August, the University of Maryland silently took down all webpages of the Immigrant and Undocumented Student Life Office. These webpages contained invaluable information for our fellow students, such as instructions for new students with undocumented status, resources for residency reclassification for in-state tuition, and dedicated contact information for the Office. Crucially, these webpages also included the University's policies regarding interactions with immigration enforcement agencies.

The Trump administration, empowered by an unaccountable executive branch, is escalating its attacks on vulnerable populations. Armed and masked thugs in plain clothes are kidnapping people on the streets for speaking out against genocide or simply for speaking a different language. The administration has taken aim at universities for daring to allow dissenting opinions, and they have already begun their attacks at UMD.

Last semester, in response to a strongly worded letter by the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, the University submitted aggregate data about Chinese international students to the committee, despite having no legal requirement to do so. In addition, the federal government has already attempted to revoke the visas of seven UMD community members.

Instead of taking a stand for its campus community, the University has resorted to obfuscation tactics in a futile attempt to remain out of the line of fire. In August, it renamed the Office of Diversity & Inclusion to “Belonging & Community at UMD”.

It is clear the Trump administration will not stop its attacks on higher education or the immigrant population, even if the University hides or takes away resources for undocumented students, or changes the names of offices. As the administration escalates further, it is unclear how the University will respond.

We do not accept this failure of public action from the University, which has a duty to represent its community’s interests, prioritize its community’s safety, and make transparent the actions it is taking to protect its students, faculty, and staff. We do not accept any compliance with fascist attacks on our community members.

We demand President Darryll J. Pines and the University of Maryland administration publicly declare the University a sanctuary campus. As part of this declaration, we demand that the University commit immediately to:

1. practicing non-compliance with all immigration enforcement agencies to the greatest possible extent, including by

   1. refusing immigration enforcement agencies access to non-public areas of the University without a judicial warrant;

   2. refusing immigration enforcement agencies access to all information of faculty, staff, and students without a lawful court order. If the University is required by law to give information to federal law enforcement agencies, the University must provide the individuals whose information has been disclosed the nature of this request and disclosure within 24 hours;

   3. alerting students, faculty, staff, and other community members immediately when any immigration enforcement agencies are on campus; and

   4. directing the UMPD to refuse to sign a 287(g) agreement or any other agreement with any part of the federal government which would permit UMPD to carry out immigration enforcement activities; and

2. Preserving and resources for immigrant and undocumented students by

   1. clarifying the status of the Immigrant and Undocumented Student Life Office; and

   2. re-uploading the webpage listing all resources the University provides for immigrant and undocumented students.

We further demand that President Darryll J. Pines communicate the above changes in policy through a University-wide email and publicly declare the University a sanctuary campus.

Organizational sponsors:

• YDSA @ UMD
• PLUMAS
• UMD Students for Justice in Palestine
• UMD Graduate Labor Union Organizing Committee
• United Academics of Maryland-University of Maryland
• TerpCHRP - Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines at the University of Maryland
• Animals 4 Animals
• Asian American Student Union
• 17 For Peace and Justice
• Secular Student Alliance
• Maryland Filmmakers
• Repro Terps
• UMD College Democrats
• UMD Mutual Aid
• Veritas Short Films
• Indigenous at UMD
• Migrating Shells
• College Park Mutual Aid

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