Good Afternoon Anteaters,

Today, in support of efforts being made by AFSCME 3299 and the University of California Student Association (UCSA) on our UC Irvine campus, on behalf of the Office of the External Vice President, and ASUCI Executive Officers, we would like to put out a call to action for a Sanctuary UC. As workers and students unite to deliver demands, we would like to reaffirm the Office of the External Vice President’s support and efforts towards obtaining a Sanctuary UC in solidarity with these organizations. It is in our hopes that today we are able to help uplift these demands for a Sanctuary UC not only to our administrators, but to our students. Please take the time to read the demands that are being delivered to our Chancellors and Medical Center CEOs across the UC on every campus.

Below is the letter that has been presented by AFSCME 3299 and co-signed by UCSA:

“We are a coalition of University of California student organizations and unions committed to see all UC campuses, medical centers, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) and all other parts of the UC System become robust sanctuaries for undocumented immigrants and other communities targeted for repression by the Trump Administration.

We demand that you immediately declare all University of California campuses, medical centers and the LBNL formal sanctuaries for students, staff, workers (whether employed by UC or by outside contractors), patients, community members, and their families.

“Sanctuary” is defined as a place of refuge or safety. We reject negative definitions of safety, and recognize that safety, security, and refuge require not only protection from persecution, but also the resources and support necessary for historically marginalized and excluded communities to adequately organize, nurture, and advocate for themselves. Safety and security for all members of the University community means that we extend the material and psychological support necessary for their wellbeing as well as take action to protect our community against the threats made against them.

As sanctuaries, UC campuses, medical centers, the LBNL, and all other parts of the UC system shall:

NO COMPLICITY, NO COLLABORATION: Refuse to comply with immigration authorities regarding investigations, raids, detentions and/or deportations; refuse to allow immigration authorities physical access to all land owned or controlled by UC; do not allow UC Police Departments to collaborate with, or act on behalf of, immigration agents;

GUARANTEE PRIVACY: Refuse to disclose information regarding immigration status or work authorization; and end surveillance of student, staff, and community activists on campus;

EXPAND WORK AUTHORIZATION PROVISIONS: Apply AFSCME 3299 immigrant rights provisions to all workers and expand provisions related to Social Security “no-match” letters; prohibit the use of E-Verify;

SUPPORT INTERNATIONAL SCHOLARS AND STAFF: State publicly and often your continual support for, sponsorship of, and willingness to take action to support international scholars and staff, especially given President-Elect Trump’s plans to eliminate visa programs, subject immigrants to “extreme vetting,” and restrict immigration from so-called “terror-prone regions”;

PROTECT & EXPAND SERVICES: Protect and expand counseling and legal services for: undocumented students, staff, workers, and their families; international scholars and staff; and threatened groups including Muslim, LGBTQIA, Black and undocumented community, as well as other students and staff of color;

NO EXCESSIVE FORCE: Prohibit use of riot police, SWAT teams or other militarized forces against student and/or worker protests, rallies, sit-ins, walkouts, strikes or civil disobedience; aggressively pursue justice and accountability in cases of excessive use of force against Black people and other people of color;

NO CRIMINALIZATION: Limit the offenses that are subject to arrest by UCPD, limit the circumstances in which students, staff, and others are turned over to outside law enforcement; Ban the Box and adopt more inclusive hiring practices;

NO REGISTRIES, WELCOME REFUGEES: Aggressively denounce and refuse to assist with a registry of Muslims or registry of any other protected class; take immediate steps to welcome refugees from Syria and others fleeing violence and insecurity;

COMBAT SEXUAL VIOLENCE: Increase resources for in-person consent education and sexual violence prevention, with a specific emphasis on high-risk populations; increase awareness of survivor support resources; ensure survivor-centric approaches including but not limited to direct adjudication and/or alternative resolution processes.

MEET HUMAN NEEDS: Guarantee Housing and Food assistance to all admitted students, expand mental health, legal, and child-care resources on campus, halt tuition and fee hikes, raise the Student minimum wage to match service worker minimum, negotiate fair contracts with UC Employees, and end the use of exploited contract workers;

AGGRESSIVE ENFORCEMENT: Aggressively enforce policies prohibiting hate and discrimination based on race, color, national origin, faith, sex, gender, gender expression, gender identity, pregnancy, physical or mental disability, medical condition, ancestry, marital status, age, sexual orientation, citizenship, or any intersection of these factors;

EXTENSIVE TRAINING: Implement training programs that include but are not limited to: UC’s sanctuary status and provisions, the reporting and investigation of incidents, UndocuAlly, de-escalation intervention techniques, and restorative justice;

RIGHT TO A UNION: Never interfere with workers’ right to join and maintain membership in their union, participate in their union, or have their employer deduct union dues on their behalf; and

DEMAND A SANCTUARY STATE: Call upon Governor Jerry Brown and the California State Legislature to immediately enact legislation extending these sanctuary demands statewide.

While we are encouraged by the initial step you have taken in this direction in releasing “principles in support of undocumented members of the UC Community,” your principles fail to include certain basic provisions — within the University’s purview — to protect all immigrants. Major shortcomings include but are not limited to the fact that your principles fail to:

Explicitly commit to protect privacy of UC workers’ immigration status or related information;
Commit not to use E-Verify;
Refuse to take adverse action, or request work authorization re-verification, in response to SSA “no match” letters or related communications;
Direct campus police to refuse ICE transfer or notification requests, in addition to holds;
Refuse to let ICE interview individuals in campus police custody;
Refuse ICE physical access to property owned or controlled by the University;
Include all immigrants, regardless of criminal convictions;
Commit to protect and expand legal and counseling services for the undocumented community;
Initiate constant and consistent outreach to the undocumented community, and actively involve and engage them in these conversations;
Explicitly include the LBNL and all other parts of the UC System;
Commit to maintain all protections irrespective of threats to federal funding; and
Provide transparency regarding the timeline and process for drafting and negotiating campus and medical center policies.

We look forward to your swift commitment to all the above protections in the form of a robust sanctuary declaration. Only then will UC be acting upon its “deeply held conviction that all members of our community have the right to work, study, and live safely and without fear at all UC locations,” as you committed to do in your press release.”

Again, we would like to emphasize that our office, and ASUCI Executive Officers, support and will continue to work to help uplift these demands to UC President Janet Napolitano, Chancellor Howard Gillman, along with additional administrators and decision makers in the UC and California. We hope that with your support and action as well, that we will be able to help the movement for a Sanctuary UC.

If you have questions, comments, or concerns about the Office of the External Vice President’s efforts thus far or how we can work together moving forward, please feel welcomed to email the External Vice President at externalvp@asuci.uci.edu.

In Solidarity,

Taylor Chanes
External Vice President
Associated Students of University of California, Irvine (ASUCI)

Tracy La
President
Associated Students of University of California, Irvine (ASUCI)

Tianna Nand
Academic Affairs Vice President
Associated Students of the University of California, Irvine (ASUCI)

Jackson Chirigotis
Student Services Vice President
Associated Students of the University of California, Irvine (ASUCI)

Rafael Carrazco-Sanchez
Internal Vice President
Associated Students of the University of California, Irvine (ASUCI)