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Dear President Drake,

We write to express our concern about the impact of the incoming presidential administration and its proposed immigration policies on University of California students. Although the impact of these policies is yet to be seen, it could be devastating. The threat of deportation alone causes profound harm to our students. We urge you to take action now to affirm the university’s unwavering support for our students both symbolically and materially.

As you know, President-elect Trump ran on an anti-immigration platform, promising to use the power of the executive branch and the U.S. military to implement mass deportations of immigrants living here without legal authorization. An estimated eleven million immigrants live in the United States without legal status, including many thousands of students at the University of California. A far greater number of our students come from mixed-status families, with immediate family members who are undocumented.

Deportation causes significant harm, as the research of renowned UC scholars has shown. The threat of deportation is a major source of stress, fear, and worry. The experience of detention and deportation involves a sudden removal from one’s home, school, and family; incarceration without due process; and forced migration to a place where students may no longer have family, a home, work connections, or even the facility to speak the language. When students’ family members are deported, students are deprived of their family member’s care and support. Students whose family members are deported often face major financial and mental health setbacks, threatening their ability to complete their education.

Students with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status are rightfully concerned that the Trump administration will terminate the program, as it attempted to do in its first term. DACA provides temporary protection from deportation and work authorization, which enables our students to pursue their dreams of higher education in the UC and to make use of their education in the California labor market. As you know, when Trump first rescinded the program, the UC played a critical role in mounting a legal challenge to the action. Although the Supreme Court determined that Trump’s actions to terminate DACA did not have sufficient legal merit, the court left open the possibility that further legal action could do so. A case to end DACA, brought by the Texas Attorney General and eight other states, is currently pending in the Fifth Circuit. The appellants will lose the cooperation of the U.S. Attorney General when Trump assumes office. We should also worry for our students who themselves or their family members hold other forms of discretionary status, such as Temporary Protective Status (TPS).

It is worth noting that many undocumented college students currently enrolled in the UC system do not have DACA status due to the legal stoppage on new applications imposed during the first Trump administration. This poses significant challenges for them because they are unable to secure fellowships, employment, or paid internship opportunities that require a social security number. Many are concerned about their ability to complete their education or pursue a career that aligns with their college degree. Students’ worries, fears, and uncertainties are particularly acute in today's political climate.

We are scholars of immigration, teachers in the UC, and California residents. We mentor, teach, and work with undocumented students, students with DACA status, students with TPS, students with undocumented parents, and international students on visas. We have heard from our students about their fears. They are terrified that they won’t be able to remain in the United States. They are frightened for their families and community members. They don’t know what to do. It is nearly impossible to keep one’s head down and focus on school when the government threatens to persecute you and your family.

It is time to take action. We urge you to take the following immediate steps:

1. Publicly reaffirm the UC’s unwavering support for its immigrant students by issuing a clear announcement stating that the UC will do whatever it can within the law to protect its students from any harm that may come from the anti-immigration policies of the new administration.
2. Invest significant additional funds into the existing programs of support for immigrant students in the UCs, including the UC Immigrant Legal Rights Centers, AB540 and Undocumented Student Centers, and partnerships with community-based mental health programs.
3. Create a new program to provide emergency funds to immigrant students whose livelihoods are impacted by the policies of the administration, including students who do not have DACA, those who lose their work authorization, or students who experience the detention or deportation of a family member.
4. Commit to increasing student data privacy. We know that student information is protected by FERPA, but we are concerned about new modes of data mining and urge the UC to take precautionary measures against the publication of sensitive student demographic information.
5. Provide clear guidance to campus community members, including administrators, faculty, staff, and students about best practices for supporting and protecting immigrant students, as well as protecting the campus community members who support and protect immigrant students. Guidance should include procedures related to immigration status privacy, training on legal protections and policies, and available resources.

We ask that senior administrators collaborate with us and our students to preemptively take the necessary steps to stand with and protect our students from the worst policies of this incoming administration. The State of California and the people of California have long agreed that students of all immigration backgrounds have the right to access and benefit from the world-class education that we offer at the University of California. We ask that you affirm that commitment and defend our most vulnerable students.

Sincerely,

Abigail Andrews, Professor of Urban Studies and Planning, UCSD