By D Turk | Staff Reporter
Kiara Reyes Ramirez, a WSU Vancouver business administration major, feels strongly about the importance of informing students of their rights when it comes to ICE. She has done this through her role as President of Survivor’s United as well as Vice President of WSUV Students for Justice for Palestine, and also through sharing information she has learned from the Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network (WAISN).
Meanwhile, Survivor’s United and Students for Justice for Palestine have been spreading cards around reminding people of their rights.
Reyes Ramirez believes it is likely that ICE may show up on campus at some point, and that the Rapid Response team of WAISN has said that ICE has been targeting more diverse places like 4th Plain Boulevard in Vancouver.
If students are approached by ICE and are uncomfortable, they should go to the nearest staff member on campus, or send them to the Chancellor’s Office in Room 230 of the Dengerink Administration Building.
Reyes Ramirez added that the Chancellor’s Office can reach out to WSU Pullman attorneys who can verify any warrant that ICE brings, and that students aren’t legally obligated to divulge any information to ICE at all. In fact, Reyes Ramirez pleads with students, “Do not give information, do not make their jobs easier, don’t try to help them.” She said that students should not call the police (who under Washington State Law are not supposed to collaborate with ICE), that sometimes ICE agents will wear plain clothes instead of uniforms, and that students can call the WAISN hotline if they run out of options.
Reyes Ramirez reiterated that this situation is scary for everyone, regardless of race. “I think it’s valid to feel fear, but I think that fear should be used as fuel, to go into our community, to help our community.” she said.
Speaking more so to the fear, Ash DeBuse, a Vancouver environment science major who sits on the Public Safety Advisory Council, has no confidence in WSU as an institution when it comes to protecting students.
“I have zero faith in this institution,” they said. “I think that there are a lot of people here who have a good heart and have good intentions, but the structure itself and the system itself does not serve students. There is a lot of money that goes toward administration, and yet budget cuts are abound to all programs, especially student programs.”
DeBuse even has doubts about state laws, stating that while law enforcement is not supposed to cooperate with ICE in Washington state, that there’s always a chance that an officer may simply ignore the law if they are sympathetic to Trump’s immigration agenda.
When it comes to students who may feel unsafe coming on campus, all DeBuse had to say was that “your safety is more important.”
For those who are unaffected and unconcerned, Reyes Ramirez thinks of the quote “First They Came” by Pastor Martin Niemoller:
“First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”
— Martin Niemöller