NMSU won’t be sanctuary campus
LAS CRUCES — New Mexico State University Chancellor Garrey Carruthers said Friday that he won’t declare the university a “sanctuary campus” but that state law already offers numerous protections for undocumented students.
A petition circulating online and on social media is asking university administrators to make NMSU “a sanctuary campus that will protect our community members from intimidation, unfair investigation and deportation.”
Similar “sanctuary campus” initiatives have sprung up at colleges nationwide in response to the victory of President-elect
Donald Trump, whose antiimmigrant rhetoric was prominent during the campaign.
Although Trump has since walked back some of his hardest-line proposals, it’s unclear how he will treat those young immigrants who were brought to the country illegally as children and who are currently protected by an executive order known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA.
In an email to faculty, staff and students, Carruthers said, “NMSU values and respects diversity, so I am pleased to reiterate our commitment to providing an environment that is supportive, welcoming and respectful for students of different religious backgrounds, sexual orientations, gender identifications, nationalities and abilities. As a land-grant university and as a Hispanic-serving institution, NMSU holds strongly to the values of inclusion and access to all people.”
He noted in the email that many of the actions called for in the petition are long-standing laws or policies that require no further action by NMSU.
For example, NMSU does not require proof of citizenship as a condition of admission and does not discriminate in admissions or other services on the basis of immigration status. In New Mexico, qualifying undocumented students are eligible for in-state tuition and other statefunded financial aid.
The petition asks the administration to adopt a resolution that “actively bans” immigration authorities from campus. Carruthers said NMSU will not ban federal law enforcement from campus.
“Doing so would jeopardize our federal funding, as well as our ability to issue student visas to our international students and visiting scholars,” he said.
The petition organizers could not be reached via their website, StandingWithOurStudents.org.
An NMSU spokesman said the university does not track how many students are covered by DACA, but U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services reports 10,531 New Mexicans are recipients of the program that allows them to study or work.