UC Workers Call on University to Ban ICE Agents From Campuses

University of California union members are urging the system to take more concrete steps to protect international workers by barring federal agents from campuses and providing financial and legal assistance for workers facing immigration status changes.

More than 13,000 members of United Auto Workers Local 4811, which represents 48,000 student researchers, employees and postdoctoral researchers, sent a petition to the UC Office of the President last week demanding that it “protect vulnerable international workers from the Trump administration’s racist and xenophobic policies.”

Their petition comes as the Trump administration has moved to terminate some student visas and ramped up immigration enforcement around the state. So far this year, at least 100 scholars and recent graduates across the UC system have had their visas or exchange visitor status revoked “with no valid justification,” according to the union. Some students and graduate workers have had their visas revoked and reinstated, according to CalMatters.

UCSF postdoctoral researcher Atreya Dey, who is from India, said the union began circulating the petition after first hearing that peoples’ exchange visitor status or student visas had been revoked.

“We think since there’s so many attacks on immigrants happening right now, the UC needs to take some steps to protect basically its core working research group,” he said.

Across the UC system, 61.5% of postdoctoral scholars are international workers.

UAW 4811 is calling on the UC to establish a legal defense fund for those affected by changes to their immigration status; provide financial assistance for people who lose a job, fellowship or living accommodations based on a status change; and deny immigration officials access to university property.

“The University of California has long been at the forefront of the fight for immigrant rights in higher education,” the petition reads. “UC must live up to this history by joining other universities in their opposition to the Trump Administration’s blatantly illegal attacks on higher education and immigrants.”

UAW 4811 graduate students are currently in contract negotiations with the UC, bargaining over fair pay and job security on behalf of graduate students.

The UC said on its website that while it cannot broadly prohibit immigration officers from coming onto campus, it does limit public access to certain areas, including those restricted by key card or locked doors, such as dormitories.

Access to other areas that are generally unlocked can also be restricted, such as lecture halls where class is in session, hospital exam and inpatient rooms, laboratories and kitchens and food preparation areas.

Spokesperson Rachel Zaentz said the university system provides “know your rights” information cards that detail the information students are legally obligated to provide if stopped by federal immigration enforcement agents.

“International students can reach out to their International Student Services Office for legal and resource referrals,” Zaentz wrote via email. “ [UC Immigrant Legal Services Center California] is also available for legal consultations and referrals for UC’s international students with immigration related questions.”

Dey said so far, the UC hasn’t responded to the petition or taken any “concrete steps” in ongoing negotiations on immigration-related demands.

“The petition is just to get the university to do something to protect its workers, which they haven’t really done much,” he said.

Dey’s current F-1 visa, a non-immigrant visa for full-time students, expires next year. He had planned to apply for an H1-B visa to continue biomedical research at the UC’s San Francisco campus, but after the Trump administration introduced a new $100,000 fee for people applying from outside the country in September, he said he’s more worried about how changing restrictions to H1-B and other work visas could prevent him from continuing his research.

“UCSF sees, at least it seems like they see, that my research is important, but they have so far still not taken any concrete steps to protect immigrants like me,” he told KQED.

KQED’s Juan Carlos Lara contributed to this report.