María Blanco Comments for Media on University ‘Sanctuary’ Policies

María Blanco, Executive Director of the Undocumented Student Legal Services Center at UC Davis School of Law, commented for media including The Guardian, Inside Higher Ed, and the Chronicle of Higher Education on the demands being made by some university students that their campuses adopt sanctuary policies to prevent cooperation with the administration of president-elect Donald Trump in attempts to deport undocumented students. 

Some have expressed concerns that if universities were to do so, the federal government could respond by withholding funding. Blanco said that universities could safely adopt policies that prevent immigration authorities from coming on campus to perform enforcement actions without warrants or exigent circumstances, bar university police from acting on behalf of immigration authorities, and protect student information.

“I think that what the students will be requesting are actually things that are doable, that don’t put the university at any kind of risk in terms of their federal funding,” Blanco told Inside Higher Ed.