The Northern Arizona University Faculty Senate unanimously voted Monday to make the school a sanctuary campus for undocumented students and those who are part of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
It comes amid fears of increased deportations of undocumented immigrants under a Donald Trump presidency. The resolution calls for NAU’s campus to be a place where students of any immigration status, race, religion or sexual orientation can learn free of discrimination or deportation.
The resolution also demands that NAU help pay the tuition of immigrant students who are part of the DACA program should their in-state tuition be revoked. In addition, the NAU faculty wants to create a legal resource center to help DREAMers.
While Faculty Senate members say the title of “sanctuary campus” is mostly symbolic, immigration officers are more restricted in operating on college campuses under the designation.
NAU President Rita Cheng signed a letter along with more than 500 university and college presidents in support of the DACA program.
