Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Group urges Southern Nevada campuses to become sanctuary schools

In a letter to Southern Nevada school officials, the Rogers Foundation is asking them to declare their campuses sanctuaries for undocumented students, staff and their family members who may face deportation.

The “Call to Action” document, which was addressed to the Clark County School District superintendent and the presidents of UNLV, College of Southern Nevada and Nevada State College, is a response to the election of President-elect Donald Trump and his immigration policy proposals, the foundation said.

Trump’s proposals are a “danger” to the future of “many of our students (who) are in this country innocently and have been for most of their lives,” said the letter, which was signed by foundation Chairwoman Beverly Rogers and Rory Reid, president of the foundation, referencing the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals executive action.

DACA, which was signed by President Barack Obama in 2012, temporarily shielded from deportation hundreds of thousands of students who were brought to the country illegally. Those who qualified were given temporary legal status with permits, which were to be renewed every two years.

The policy's future is uncertain, but as a presidential candidate, Trump had said he would move to mass deport the approximate 11 million undocumented immigrants estimated to live in the U.S.

In an interview with CBS' "60 Minutes" shortly after the election, however, he appeared to soften his stance. Trump said he would seek to first deport 2 to 3 million immigrants with criminal records, build a wall across the U.S.-Mexico border and then evaluate what to do with the remaining 9 to 10 million immigrants.

The Rogers Foundation’s request is four-pronged:

It asks administrators to not provide data to anyone in regards to the immigration status of students and staff; to deny physical and digital access to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at their campuses; to implement policies that reinforce Title IX, and to offer counseling and “places to seek help.”

"Our students, now more than ever, deserve the basic American right to not live in fear," the letter concluded.

The Rogers Foundation is an education-centered nonprofit organization that was founded by the late Jim Rogers and Beverly Rogers in 2013 and awards scholarships to students and grants to education institutions.

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