SECTION I

1.1 WHEREAS international students across the country, including in Oregon and at UO have had their visas revoked by the current Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and DHS is pressuring universities to disenroll students whose visas have been revoked; and students facing visa revocation are given fifteen days to determine whether to leave the US, a.k.a., “self deport;” and

1.2 WHEREAS the current federal administration’s policies of mass deportations, threats of targeted deportations, and forced removals of noncitizens, international, and undocumented students and scholars have spread terror and fear in our UO community; and

1.3 WHEREAS Oregon has been a Sanctuary State since 1987, committed to protecting the well-being, respect, and fundamental rights of all Oregonians; and

1.4 WHEREAS in 2016, the UO Senate passed resolution, US 16/17-09: Declaring UO a Sanctuary Campus; and

1.5 WHEREAS former UO President, Michael Schill, joined other Oregon Higher Education Administrators in 2017 to publicly rebuke the first Trump Administration’s phasing out of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and said the UO "will not facilitate immigration enforcement on our campus without legal compulsion;” and

1.6 WHEREAS in 2021, the Oregon State Legislature passed HB 3265, the Sanctuary Promise Act, reaffirming the state’s commitment under law, since 1987, to avoid use of state and local resources towards federal immigration enforcement activities. HB 3265 ensures that “public bodies and Oregon law enforcement agencies cannot deny services and benefits… or inquire about immigration status” and prohibits local law enforcement and state entities from “gathering and sharing information with federal immigration authorities” or otherwise aiding or assisting federal immigration enforcement activities; and

1.7 WHEREAS the UO General Counsel’s Office has upheld enforcing state sanctuary policies protecting UO students, faculty, and staff from arbitrary arrest and detention by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE); and

1.8 WHEREAS the federal government’s Executive Order on January 20, 2025 rescinded the “Protected Areas” provisions of the DHS, in place since 2011, which had prohibited immigration enforcement or ICE activity on school campuses, in hospitals, and in places of worship; and

1.9 WHEREAS the President’s Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration issued a statement on January 22, 2025 outlining its concerns over the current federal administration’s Executive Orders and their impacts on student safety and faculty research on college and university campuses, stating, “Higher education institutions, and measures that allow for undocumented, international, and refugee students to study and succeed in this country, are essential components of helping our nation seize (educational, economic, and social opportunities afforded by higher education access)” and also issued a “Best Practices” document on March 5 outlining steps universities can take to protect immigrant, international, and noncitizen students, staff, and faculty; and

1.10 WHEREAS Oregon State, Western Oregon, and Eastern Oregon Universities – but not the UO – were among 86 institutions and associations that formally supported the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration amicus brief in AAUP v Rubio, challenging the current federal administration’s revocation of visas and detentions of noncitizen students and scholars; and

1.11 WHEREAS the UO supports Immigrant and DACA students who are eligible for Oregon state funding, and the UO student body includes 4 percent international students from over 90 countries who are actively recruited for enrollment at the UO, make valuable contributions to UO student life, athletics, research, and relatively high-cost non-resident tuition and fees revenue; and

1.12 WHEREAS the UO’s ability to achieve the four goals stated in its 2024-2025 Oregon Rising plan – enhance pathways to timely graduation, become a leader in career preparation, create a flourishing community, and accelerate the UO’s impact on the world – implies a commitment to the success of and dependence on immigrant, international, and noncitizen members of UO’s student body, faculty, staff, and visiting scholars.   

SECTION II

2.1 THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that there is a need for UO President, Provost, and other relevant administrators to make explicit that UO resources will not be used to participate in federal immigration enforcement activities; and 

2.2 THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that there is a need for UO President, Provost, and other relevant administrators to make explicit that resources will be used, to the extent possible, to protect immigrant, undocumented, and international students, faculty, staff, and visiting scholars whose wellbeing and continued affiliation with UO is at risk due to federal immigration enforcement activities; and

2.3 THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that such protection and support from the UO should include contracts with immigration law resources to provide for legal consultations and legal fees for any UO student, staff, faculty member at risk of detention, deportation, or removal; and

2.4 THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that such protection and support from the UO should include additional staffing, changes in academic policy, and additional coordinated action from the Office of the Provost, the Division of Graduate Studies, Colleges, Schools, and Departments that offers flexibility and assistance to ensure that international students remain enrolled at UO, can continue their studies and research remotely, and have the opportunity to complete their UO degrees in the event of visa revocation, legal status termination, detention, or deportation; this includes the UO removing “residential” restrictions that would impinge on deported or self-deported students and/or covering the potential increased costs of employing GEs who may be forced to reside outside the US due to safety and security concerns; and

2.5 THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that such protection and support from the UO should include assisting any UO student or scholar facing visa revocation or other immigration enforcement assaults in retaining their UO status, including employment and/or benefit status through such things as fellowships and/or other compensation, to the extent possible by law; and

2.6 THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that such protection and support from the UO should include any necessary changes and accommodations in UO Tenure & Promotion evaluations by academic units, Deans, and the Office of the Provost to permit consideration of faculty/scholars’ statements of how federal immigration policy and enforcement actions impacted their scholarly productivity, research progress, and/or trajectory toward their tenure & promotion; and 

2.7 THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that such protection and support from the UO should include an explicit statement of commitment from the UO to not report on UO community members (students, staff, faculty, visiting scholars) whose political speech, research, teaching, and/or service may make them targets of the current federal administration for visa or immigration status revocation or for detention or deportation, and delete any UO archived media that could be used to target members of the UO community; and

2.8 THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that such protection and support from the UO should include trainings for faculty, staff, and students that raise awareness of constitutional rights, relevant federal and state laws to protect sensitive information and data, including personnel and employment data, student data, and research data; which campus spaces can be deemed “private,” and, therefore, off-limits to immigration enforcement activities; and generally raise awareness across campus about how we can work together to keep one another safe; and

2.9 THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that such protection and support from the UO should include enhancing the resources of the Division of Global Engagement/Office of International Students and Scholars Services to provide legal and other relevant supports wherever possible to assist students, faculty, staff, and visiting scholars to resolve any immigration related matters impacting their ability to learn, study, research, create, work, and flourish at UO; and

2.10 THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that such protection and support from the UO should include official reaffirmations that UO Police Department resources will be used to protect UO students, staff, faculty, and visiting scholars rather than to cooperate with any federal immigration enforcement activities on campus or in the surrounding community; and

2.11 THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that such protection and support from the UO should include protecting lawful research and scholarly activities on campus and the exercise of free speech by students, staff, faculty, and visiting scholars rather than collaborating with targeted deportations or immigration enforcement activities; and

2.12 THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that such protection and support from the UO should include working with state and federal government and allied institutions and professional associations to file legal claims to push back against the excessive use of federal authority to revoke students’, staff members’, and/or scholars’ legal status without due process or prior communication with the university.