An impossible situation

The freshman residence hall RA said other Housing workers are also feeling in the dark. 

“I’ve heard, like some of my coworkers … say it’s kind of a crazy expectation to have for the RA role, which I agree,” the RA said. 

The other Housing employee said students working in campus residence halls have expressed feeling “disgusted” by the university’s recommendations.

The RA said that, despite the way the university has tasked them with responding, they still would not cooperate and let ICE into a residence hall. 

This may be a shared initiative.

“A lot of them have just decided, ‘No, we’re not doing this,’ which is good, because that means people are aware of what’s going on,” the Housing employee said.

The Trump administration rescinded a Biden-era policy which barred ICE from making arrests in deemed “sensitive locations,” such as schools, places of worship and health care facilities — DePaul property may have been protected under this bygone policy. 

The emails sent to RAs did not include the specific authority ICE has on private property, which would include dorm buildings. 

If ICE agents did come to resident halls, they must present a valid judicial warrant, signed by a judicial officer within the last two weeks.

Arnold, the political science professor, thinks that this is why it is “absurd” to assume student employees are armed with the proper knowledge if ICE were to arrive. While this information is accessible on the university’s general counsel site, it was not outlined specifically to Housing employees. 

The RA said they disagree with the current system of immigration enforcement — but feel “legally” bound to adhere to ICE’s direction. 

“I would feel guilty,” the RA said. “(But) you’re compelled to do something even if you don’t agree with it.” 

If they don’t comply with a directive from Public Safety or a law enforcement officer, they could face penalties from supervisors or university officials, through DePaul’s “reasonable directives” policy listed in the student handbook. 

This holds students liable to “not disregard a reasonable directive, either verbal or written, from a University official or office acting in their official capacity.” If a student disobeyed Public Safety or other DePaul official’s order to let in officers, the student could be held responsible in a student conduct hearing, as outlined in the student handbook. 

DePaul has continued to equate ICE’s authority to that of local law enforcement, like CPD, through their various guidelines sent out to RAs.

At the same time, DePaul’s Center for Latino Research and College of Law is hosting a  “know your rights” event in collaboration with the DePaul Migration Collaborative in order to educate the community on advocacy and immigrant rights. 

The Housing student employee said DePaul’s guidance to RAs and other responses to immigration concerns go against the Vincentian values of the institution.

“I think the stance that the university is taking is almost like no stance,” the employee said. “It goes against (DePaul’s) concerns and values, especially considering that this is like a religious campus, and the role of Catholicism and the sanctuary movement.” 

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