Undocumented students: 10 ways to keep their data safe

President Donald Trump's administration has alerted immigration and border patrol agencies that campuses are no longer designated “sensitive areas.”

President Donald Trump’s administration has alerted immigration and border patrol agencies that campuses, K12 schools and churches are no longer designated “sensitive areas,” meaning they are no longer off-limits to immigration officers who may be on the lookout for undocumented students.

“Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest,” reads a Department of Homeland Security statement issued last week. “The Trump Administration will not tie the hands of our brave law enforcement and instead trusts them to use common sense.”

Earlier this year, The Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration shared a webinar on how colleges can support undocumented students, with particular focus on protecting their data. Campus leaders can also use the Alliance’s “Rights & Protections Hub” to learn more about the rights of students and employees, legal help and deportation defense.


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“We hope you use it to build knowledge, share with others and identify allies near and far so that institutions are beacons of hope and don’t become a place of fear or fan the fears that are already here,” Nancy Jodaitis, founder of the Institutional Solutions higher ed consultancy, said on the webinar.

The Alliance recommends colleges take these 10 steps to protect undocumented students’ data:

  1. Research and clarify the latest federal and state policy protections.
  2. Work with your board of trustees to reaffirm or implement procedures for responding to Immigrations and Customs Enforcement data inquiries. Example: Chicago Board of Education resolution.
  3. Ensure key personnel know their responsibilities under federal, state and local laws and institutional directives.
  4. Ensure campus personnel know how to respond to inquiries into student immigration status. Example: Cerritos Community College protocol.
  5. An active campus task force—that includes the voices and concerns of those who are directly impacted—can effectively implement recommendations and procedures.
  6. Review departmental and institutional practices for storing the data of undocumented students and other vulnerable populations.
  7. Verify that coding used to identify student data is not easily identifiable or connected to their status.
  8. Limit access to student data to a small, trusted group of staff or administrators who are specifically trained as “data custodians.”
  9. Remind all student service professionals and faculty to take precautions in written and verbal communication to avoid disclosing a student’s immigration status.
  10. Send campus-wide emails affirming the rights of all students. Example: UCLA Center for Immigration Law and Policy statement.

The political environment is fraught for many campus leaders, Miriam Feldblum, the Alliance’s executive director, acknowledged in what she called a “reality check” for administrators.

“Far more than in the past, campus leaders are being very mindful about what they say publicly,” she said. “How as presidents or chancellor may depend on the state that you’re in, if you’re a public or private institution, what’s happening locally or regionally, if your campus has adopted a stance of institutional neutrality, along with numerous other factors.”

 

Matt Zalaznick
Matt Zalaznick
Matt Zalaznick is the managing editor of University Business and a life-long journalist. Prior to writing for University Business, he worked in daily news all over the country, from the NYC suburbs to the Rocky Mountains, Silicon Valley and the U.S. Virgin Islands. He's also in a band.

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