[Wsssc] FW: Q&A for colleges - INS/ICE

Tue Jun 25 08:38:25 PDT 2019

Colleagues: below is advice from Assistant Attorney General Dave Stolier in response to some questions we are getting from the campuses. It is an excerpt from an email he sent to our Public Information Director Laura McDowell. Laura's original email posing the questions is below his response.

AAG Dave Stolier will be joining us at the joint meeting with Instruction Commission on July 10, in case you have any follow-up questions on this topic.

Also, please let Jessica Gilmore-English or I know if you have any specific topics you want AAG Stolier to cover during his time with us. He requests advance notice so he can research/prepare adequately. Apologies if Jess has already made this request.

                             [Joe]
[Compass]
Joe Holliday
Director, Student Services
Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges
jholliday at sbctc.edu<mailto:jholliday at sbctc.edu>* o: 360-704-4334 * f: 360-704-4418
sbctc.edu<https://www.sbctc.edu/> * Twitter: @SBCTCWashington<https://twitter.com/SBCTCWashington> * Facebook: @WASBCTC<https://www.facebook.com/wasbctc/>

From: Stolier, David A (ATG) <David.Stolier at atg.wa.gov>
Sent: Friday, June 21, 2019 3:10 PM
To: Laura McDowell <lmcdowell at sbctc.edu>
Cc: Joe Holliday <jholliday at sbctc.edu>
Subject: RE: Q&A for colleges - INS/ICE

....Although I know you want some system-wide guidance, I would urge every college to contact its AAG if any of these scenarios actually materialize.  I'll be sharing this with the education AAGs so we are all on the same page.  First, I'm providing a link to the AGO immigration guidance document that was formulated in 2017.
http://agportal-s3bucket.s3.amazonaws.com/uploadedfiles/Another/AGO%20Immigration%20Guidance.pdf#page=34   You may have already seen this but some of your questions will be answered in these materials.  In the meantime, I've provided some responses below that I hope cover all the scenarios in your questions.

*         It is difficult to keep federal agents off of public areas of campus. They are also public citizens.  On the other hand, if they want to enter classroom, business offices,  student housing, or any other area not open to the general public, they should be denied permission absent a search warrant or subpoena.  To your question about requesting to see a warrant if an officer is on public space, I am not sure what would be accomplished other than heightening tension.  Since the officer does not need a warrant to be there, what would the college's next move be?   If the officer has a warrant, it would be to access an otherwise non-public space or to access a particular person.

*         Absent a warrant or subpoena, an agent would have no basis to insist on questioning someone.  So, I would reframe the questions asking whether they can ask a question to whether they can compel a response.  You cannot muzzle them or penalize them for asking a question.  They may be just asking directions to the administration or the president's office in order to conform to a campus protocol, or asking where there is a public restroom.   The important principle is that they cannot compel anyone to answer questions.  People are free to walk away-unless there is a warrant naming that person.

*         If someone asks whether a student Is a student in class, I would suggest not answering unless there is a subpoena or warrant specifying that they need information about that student.  That information is likely FERPA-protected, though that may depend somewhat on whether the particular campus designates class schedules as directory information.  That will be a campus by campus issue that they should be consulting their AAG on.

*         I have not seen any concrete examples of protocols but think it is a good idea to have staff designated to refer these sorts of inquiries to.

From: Laura McDowell <lmcdowell at sbctc.edu<mailto:lmcdowell at sbctc.edu>>
Sent: Thursday, June 20, 2019 4:19 PM
To: Stolier, David A (ATG) <David.Stolier at atg.wa.gov<mailto:David.Stolier at atg.wa.gov>>
Cc: Holliday, Joe <jholliday at sbctc.edu<mailto:jholliday at sbctc.edu>>
Subject: Q&A for colleges - INS/ICE

Hi David,

We expect President Trump's deportation threats to continue as we get deeper into the presidential campaign season. Rather than having all 34 colleges contact their respective AGs with questions, we thought it might be helpful to pose a few questions and then share throughout the system, if that's ok with you. Those questions are:

*         Can ICE come onto a campus without the college's permission. (Based on our last email exchange, I assume so...even if technically it is a "sensitive" area.)

*         Can ICE agents go anywhere on campus? Or, do some areas require a warrant and others not? (I've heard that ICE can go into any area that is already open to the public, but would have to show a warrant to enter a classroom.)

*         Even if a warrant is not required in a public space, can colleges still ask to see one?

*         Can ICE stop a student in a hall or other public area and directly ask if the student is a citizen?

*         Can ICE stop a student in a hall or other public area and directly ask for identification, like a driver's license or green card?

*         Does a warrant allow ICE to ask any type of question of students and staff?

*         Is it correct to assume that  if ICE asks whether a student is in class, that the college should refrain from answering without a warrant, since that information falls under FERPA?

*         Have you seen any examples of college policies that clearly spell out how staff will respond to an ICE visit - ie, identification of a staff "point person" and appropriate protocols?

Thanks for your help and patience as we continue to grapple with this topic. Hopefully, we can ultimately reduce the number of calls to your office by coming up with something to share with all colleges.

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