Open Letter to President Garimella and University of Arizona Board

Dear President Garimella,

On January 21, 2025, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) rescinded its policy restricting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity in sensitive areas such as schools, healthcare facilities, and places of worship. This reversal of policy allows DHS, ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to freely conduct operations in these previously protected areas, including college campuses such as ours. The University of Arizona must take action now to protect its students.

The current presidential administration has publicly committed to a nationwide mass deportation campaign, vowing to remove millions of undocumented individuals. To this end, ICE has broadened the scope and intensity of their operations across the country, fueling the racial profiling and harassment of non-white individuals. At Arizona State University, the student group College Republicans United escalated this harassment, calling on students to report their undocumented peers to ICE for deportation. Attacks on immigrant communities threaten the well-being of students and families across Arizona, including those at our university.

As students at the University of Arizona, we strongly urge you to lead the administration in taking preventative steps to protect students from harassment, detainment, and deportation by ICE. Our university, the first Arizona four-year public university designated as a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI), has a responsibility to shield students and faculty from profiling and intimidation. Non-citizen students, including DACA recipients and student visa holders, have invested significant resources in their education and deserve to finish their hard-earned degrees without the constant fear of immigration enforcement disrupting their lives.

We ask that you direct the university to demonstrate its commitment to protecting students through the following actions:

Non-Cooperation with ICE: The University of Arizona will adopt a policy refusing to cooperate with DHS, including ICE, in any immigration enforcement activity unless compelled by a judicial warrant.

Protecting Student Data: The University of Arizona will prohibit disclosure of any student information, including directory information and limited directory information defined under FERPA, to DHS unless compelled by a judicial warrant. The University of Arizona will not use the “health and safety” exception under FERPA to provide student information to DHS for the purpose of immigration enforcement.

Educating Students on Their Rights: The University of Arizona will send an immediate notice to all students publicizing ‘Know Your Rights’ information published on the University of Arizona Thrive Center Immigrant Student Resources webpage.

Training Faculty and Staff: The University of Arizona will issue an immediate directive to all faculty and staff instructing them on how to respond to DHS activity on campus. Faculty and staff will be required to deny federal law enforcement officers access to non-public spaces, students, and students’ information in all cases, and instead refer them to the Office of University Counsel or another appropriate university office.

Public Commitment from the Administration: The University of Arizona will make a public statement affirming the university’s commitment to a safe educational environment for all students, regardless of their immigration status.

Through these actions, the University of Arizona will join other respected institutions in protecting their students and upholding the integrity of their learning environments. Locally, the Tucson Unified School District (TUSD) has already taken similar steps to protect students and publicly voiced concern for undocumented students’ well-being. Students from across the world and a variety of backgrounds have worked tirelessly to earn the privilege of attending the University of Arizona. The presence of ICE on university grounds is fundamentally incompatible with the university’s decades-long mission of fostering a safe and supportive academic community. We urge the University of Arizona to take the aforementioned actions to ensure that all students, regardless of immigration status, can learn in an environment free from intimidation and fear.

With resolve,

Ben Armentrout
On behalf of the University of Arizona College Democrats

Public support for this letter can be found by clicking here.