Glendale Community College passes resolution supporting undocumented students
In support of undocumented students who attend Glendale Community College and their privacy rights, the school’s board of trustees recently passed a resolution affirming that officials will not release identifiable student information or permit campus police to question, detain or arrest students based on their suspected undocumented immigration status.
Trustees said they were proud to pass the resolution, which followed a similar one the college’s faculty guild approved in February.
“We need to have a safe environment,” said trustee Tony Tartaglia.
The resolution states that officials “will not cooperate with any federal effort to create a registry of individuals based on any protected characteristics such as religion, nation of origin, race, gender or sexual orientation.”
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The move comes after the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office and the Board of Governors led the 132 colleges statewide to reassure students that the campuses “will remain safe, welcoming places for students of all backgrounds to learn,” according to a college report.
Under Donald Trump’s presidency, however, undocumented students have become fearful of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, and have advised their peers not to relay any information to them.
In February, students who belong to Glendale Community College’s VOICES club held a workshop in which they instructed about 150 high school students on “knowing your rights,” said Greg Perkins, a faculty adviser for the club.
VOICES stands for Voices Organizing Immigrant Communities for Educational Success.
There’s something in the air where people don’t want to be identified. They’re fearful.
— Greg Perkins, faculty adviser for Glendale Community College’s VOICES club, made up of undocumented students
The club is made up of students known as “AB 540 students” — those who are undocumented, but who, under the 2001 legislation, pay in-state tuition at any community college, UC or Cal State campus if they meet a set of requirements, including having attended a California high school for at least three years.
With about 450 AB 540 students on the Glendale campus, there are mounting fears, Perkins said.
“There’s a lot of angst and anxiety,” he said.
That anxiety is also felt by high school students’ parents, he said, many of whom are refusing to fill out applications for grants or financial aid, even though the California Student Aid Commission vows it does not share information about any student’s immigration status.
“The parents don’t believe it,” Perkins said.
Officials have also seen fewer AB 540 students apply for scholarships.
Of the several hundred who were eligible to apply to scholarships, only 20 students submitted applications, Perkins said.
“There’s something in the air where people don’t want to be identified,” he added. “They’re fearful.”
Twitter: @kellymcorrigan
