WSU is responding to the Trump Administration’s federal immigration policies, which have the potential to affect students throughout the WSU System.
The City of Pullman also responded, announcing it will cooperate with federal law enforcement agencies in a press release Tuesday.
“The responsibility for the enforcement of federal immigration laws clearly rests with the United States Customs and Border Protection Services,” the release said. “With that being said, the role of the Pullman Police Department is to cooperate with federal law enforcement if requested.”
The release also made it clear that the new administration and its policies do not change the Pullman Police Department’s commitment to community policing.
“The Pullman Police Department continues to work hard as an organization to develop a positive and trusting relationship with all in our community,” the release said. “This is the culture of the Pullman Police Department and it will not change. There will be no disparate treatment to any member or visitor of our community.”
In the release, the City also pushed back on the politicization of the Pullman Police Department.
“Although some may seek to politicize this topic, the authority of local police officers is not political,” the release said. “The City of Pullman will never condone any officer or individual violating the Constitution or an individual’s civil rights.”
Phil Weiler, vice president of Marketing and Communications, spoke to The Daily Evergreen about what President Trump’s executive orders and the City’s recent announcement means for the WSU System.
“The reason that the [WSU] President and the Provost created this team on Monday was to say that we needed to understand what the implications of these various executive orders are,” he said. “There were a lot of executive orders signed and it’s not clear in some cases what impact it’s going to have on particular programs.”
In addition to these federal immigration policies are state-wide policies that the university needs to consider, Weiler said.
“We have to adhere to this Keep Washington Working Act,” he said. “Essentially what it says is that local law enforcement agencies are not allowed to engage in enforcement actions based on somebody’s immigration status or citizenship.”
These state laws serve as protections for WSU students.
“Basically, there may be things happening at the federal level, but it’s not like they’re going to be able to have WSU police, for example, participate in some kind of enforcement action if it’s a federal enforcement issue having to deal specifically with your legal status, your immigration status [and/or] your citizenship,” Weiler said.
There are also federal laws already in place that further protections for Washington students, Weiler said.
“If federal agents are trying to find out information about individual students, FERPA has to be taken into consideration,” he said. “In all likelihood, the university, depending on the type of information, wouldn’t be permitted under federal law to share that.”
WSU is also committed to continuing to provide all WSU students system-wide with the resources they need to succeed, Weiler said.
“We don’t care about someone’s immigration status if they need food or they need some kind of emergency short-term loan if they are having problems paying for rent [or] if they’re having problems paying their tuition,” he said. “We’ve got programs in place that don’t ask or care about your immigration status. Our goal is to provide an environment where students can be successful.”
The reason WSU is committed to maintaining its accessibility to all students, regardless of immigration status, is its land-grant mission. The land-grant mission was established in response to education mainly being made available to wealthy men in the 1860s, Weiler said.
“Our goal is to educate as many students as possible, and in order for us to be able to do that, we have to create an environment where people feel safe, where they can study [and] where they’ve got the resources they need to keep themselves together,” he said. “That’s because that’s why we exist. We want those students to get a degree in four years and go off and do things in their lives that they wouldn’t be able to do without a college degree.”
The university is also committed to furthering its mission off campus as well, Weiler said.
“State universities typically have what’s referred to as extension services…it’s kind of a cool concept because literally every community is going to have different needs and WSU is able to be on the ground providing assistance, supporting those counties, helping them identify their greatest needs and then coming up with solutions, working together with the people in those counties who would be able to address those needs,” he said.
However, Weiler said many of these programs may be affected due to their use of federal funding.
“A lot of those programs do receive federal funding, so that’s certainly in an area that we need to pay close attention to,” he said.
WSU also remains committed to helping first-generation students and their communities, Weiler said.
“If they’re the first in their family to get a degree, that has a ripple effect that actually positively impacts all of their extended families because it creates pathways for other members of that family,” he said.
Weiler said he hopes students use the resources the WSU System has available for them.
“This is a really emotional time for people and it’s really frightening,” he said. “I get that and so what I would ask students, if you were thinking about interrupting your education, please reach out to the resources that are available on your particular campuses.”