CSUN Student Senate Backs Plan to Offer Latin Refugees Sanctuary

Despite warnings that they might run afoul of the law, California State University, Northridge student government representatives endorsed plans Tuesday to offer sanctuary to Central American refugees.

By an overwhelming voice vote, the Associated Students Senate approved a resolution declaring that it “has endorsed and supports CSUN as a sanctuary for Central American refugees.”

The resolution endorsed the work of the Campus Sanctuary Committee, a group of seven students who insist that many Central American refugees face torture and death if deported by the U.S. government. The group is raising funds to begin an off-campus network of houses where such refugees could be housed for short stays.

Endorsement of a Philosophy

Student government president Zeke Zeidler, who supported the resolution, said it was merely “an endorsement of the philosophy of sanctuary” and did not call for the student government to harbor refugees, which could be a violation of federal law.

The U.S. government, which contends most such refugees are not true political refugees but are merely seeking to better themselves economically, recently launched a crackdown on the sanctuary movement, indicting more than a dozen people for smuggling and harboring illegal aliens.

Government spokesmen have said the sanctuary movement is a mask for opposition to U.S. support for the governments of El Salvador and Guatemala, both of which are facing insurgencies.

Several student senate members expressed fear that the resolution could make the student government the target of the crackdown.

Similar Resolutions Passed

Sanctuary leaders said a handful of major California universities, including UCLA, UC Berkeley and UC Riverside, recently passed similar resolutions without encountering any difficulty.

The senate agreed to reconsider the issue if a legal opinion requested of the associated students’ attorney indicates there could be problems.

Frank Lorah, associated students general manager, pleaded unsuccessfully for a delay on the vote, saying the legal opinion should be available for next Tuesday’s meeting.

Lorah said he feared that the resolution could be construed as endorsing a political movement or advocating an illegal act, either of which “might jeopardize the tax-exempt status” of the student organization, which has an annual budget of $850,000.

Resolution ‘Greatly Helpful’

John Fliter, chairman of the Campus Sanctuary Committee, said the resolution would be “greatly helpful” in recruiting new members to provide aid for refugees.

He said the group hoped to have a network of “safehouses” in operation by the end of the summer that could accommodate refugees for up to two weeks at a time.