Nearly 2,000 University of Maryland community members are demanding that a webpage for Immigrant and Undocumented Student Life be reinstated to Stamp Student Union’s website.
The webpage disappeared from Stamp’s website over the summer. The purpose of the office was to provide “guidance and support to immigrant and undocumented undergraduate and graduate students” at the university, according to an archived version of the office’s webpage dated July 25.
The link to the Immigrant and Undocumented Student Life office’s homepage leads to a 404 “Page not Found” error as of Wednesday.
The university wrote in a statement to The Diamondback on Wednesday that the immigrant and undocumented student resources are now integrated into the Thrive Center for Essential Needs, which is part of the Dean of Students Office.
The transition of resources to the Thrive Center was finalized in August to “better reflect the scope of services offered to all students in our respective units.” No services have been lost in this transition, the university’s statement read.
“Many of the specific resources noted have been integrated into several sections of our website, which ensures all students have access to this critical information,” the university wrote.
More than 100 students gathered in the art and sociology building on Monday to kick off a “sanctuary campus campaign” that calls on university administration to clarify the status of the Immigrant and Undocumented Student Life office.
This university’s Young Democratic Socialists of America chapter created the campaign, which demands university administration reestablish the office’s online services, according to a petition created by the organization.
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As of Tuesday, eight other student organizations have agreed to co-sponsor the campaign, including this university’s PLUMAS and Students for Justice in Palestine chapters, the Graduate Labor Union Organizing Committee and the UAM-UMD executive committee, according to YDSA’s petition.
The petition has since gained more than 1,700 signatures.
The office’s webpages previously listed financial resources and detailed information for new immigrant and undocumented students, according to the archives. They also outlined this university’s previous contracts with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and offered guidelines on creating a safe environment for undocumented students.
“We just want them to be transparent about when their policies are changing, why their policies are changing and making sure there’s a uniform place for people to access resources that they need,” said lynne homann cure, YDSA treasurer and a junior mathematics major.
The campaign demands this university refuse cooperation with ICE by requiring a judicial warrant before allowing officials onto non-public parts of campus and by not disclosing students’ personal information without a court order, homann cure said. The campaign also calls on the university to alert students of ICE’s presence on campus or if information is revealed, she added.
The initiative directs the University of Maryland Police not to sign any agreements with federal government agencies, limiting them from aiding immigration enforcement efforts.
These demands come in response to President Donald Trump’s increasing crackdown on immigration. His orders have given rise to the arrest, detention and deportation of people across the country, including many on college campuses.
The campaign name stems from the term “sanctuary city,” which refers to an area that protects its residents from immigration enforcement agencies. Campaign members aim to make the university a “sanctuary for everyone,” said Nick Cosgrove, YDSA co-chair and sophomore American studies and communication major.
In addition to immigrant and undocumented students, the campaign seeks to protect the transgender community, individuals’ rights to bodily autonomy and access to reproductive care, homann cure said.
Schools across the United States have also downsized, altered and eliminated their diversity, equity and inclusion programs in response to pressure from the Trump administration. Pages and resources relating to diversity, equity and inclusion have disappeared from government and university websites.
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A dashboard listing 25 demands created by Black student leaders in 2020 disappeared from the university’s recently-renamed Belonging and Community office website in April. The office was formerly called the Office of Diversity and Inclusion.
Vice president of Belonging and Community Georgina Dodge told The Diamondback in April the dashboard would be republished. As of Wednesday, the demands and their progress are still not listed on the website. Two short paragraphs confirming their existence are displayed on the site, but to access the site from Google, people must log in with their directory ID.
“This isn’t us asking for a huge expansion of what they have,” Cosgrove said. “They had these [resources] already, they just got rid of them. So we’re basically just saying, ‘bring them back.’”
Some student resources can still be found scattered throughout university department and program websites. The university maintains a webpage tracking federal executive orders and how they affect the university. This webpage links to a February email with guidance on interacting with government enforcement agents, such as ICE and the U.S. Office of Inspector General.
Another webpage is dedicated to students of immigrant origin on the international students and scholars website and a support page for undocumented students is still published by the history department.
Students who want to support YDSA’s campaign can sign the organization’s petition and attend its weekly meetings, homann cure and Cosgrove said.
“Making your voice heard is part of the campaign, because it’s not enough just to be loud,” homann cure said. “We need to be loud and organized, and that’s what we’re hoping to provide.”
