Thread: Northwestern Univ. Police Change Illegal Alien Policy

Northwestern University
Evanston, Ill.

Changes made in UP's immigrant policy

By: Ben Geier and Brian Rosenthal
Posted: 5/7/09

Northwestern University Police has decided to change its policy on dealing with illegal immigrants, it announced Wednesday evening.

The new policy was changed due to an Evanston City Council resolution passed last year, but was spurred by a Tuesday meeting with NU student leaders, according to a UP statement. UP "will initiate notification to (the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement) only in cases involving arrests for a felony and/or human trafficking," wrote UP Chief of Police Bruce Lewis.

A student rally about the issue scheduled for Thursday will still be held, organizers said.

UP drew criticism after arresting illegal immigrant Ramiro Sanchez-Zepeda on April 26 and transferring him to federal immigration authorities. The leaders of groups like Alianza met with UP about the arrest on Tuesday, and a rally was planned for Thursday afternoon.

Lewis requested the meeting, said attendee Adam Yalowitz, the co-chair of the Undergraduate Lecture Series on Race, Poverty, and Inequality. The chief gave details surrounding Sanchez-Zepeda's arrest, acknowledged a lack of UP policy on the issue and promised to enact the new policy, Yalowitz said.

"It was a really incredible meeting," the Weinberg sophomore said. "We had anticipated there would be more resistance from UP. We were all really shocked about how fast this happened."

Meeting attendee Arianna Hermosillo, president of Alianza, said Lewis was "very" cooperative. Neither Lewis nor UP Asst. Chief Dan McAleer could be reached for comment Wednesday night.

UP officers were following their current policy when they referred Sanchez-Zepeda, according to the UP statement.

The Evanston Police Department's policy is similar to UP's new language and it has not referred an illegal immigrant to federal authorities in recent memory, city officials said.

Last April, the city council unanimously passed a symbolic resolution that called for immigrants to be treated "on a humane and just basis." The resolution stopped short of mandating that police cannot consider someone's citizen status, which was proposed, but did indicate Evanston should be a safe haven for immigrants.

"We wanted to have ourselves counted as standing up for immigrant rights," Ald. Edmund Moran (6th) said of the resolution last week.

After reviewing UP's old policy, Lewis found it was "inconsistent with the spirit of the Evanston City Council resolution," he said in the statement.

But Ald. Elizabeth Tisdahl (7th), who will be sworn in as mayor on Monday, said as far as she knew, no one from the City Council had put any pressure on UP to make the change.

Tisdahl called UP's statement "an excellent decision."

Jordan Fein, the president of NU College Democrats, applauded the change.

"We're really happy that the police were able to have such a quick change," he said. "Northwestern is an open and welcoming community, and the University Police's policy toward immigrants should reflect that."

Associated Student Government President Mike McGee, who co-signed a recent Letter to the Editor decrying UP's policy, said he was excited about the policy change.

"It's good that there's communication," he said. "The whole situation highlighted a lack of communication."

The quick change shows the power of students, Yalowitz said.

"It again shoots down that myth that NU students are apathetic," he said. "It shows that when people come together and take collective action, you can make a positive change very fast. It is something that students should be really proud of."

Students will still rally at 4 p.m. on Thursday at The Arch in support of the policy change, according to a Facebook message sent to event attendees.

The new policy will be in place in the next two weeks, according to the UP release.

"UP understands that all community members must feel comfortable with interacting with police regardless of their citizenship or immigration status," Lewis said in the statement. "UP also understands the need to protect the community they serve as well as their obligation and sworn duty to enforce the law. Our overall objective in all of our efforts continues to be this community's safety."

bengeier@u.northwestern.edu

b-rosenthal@u.northwestern.edu

http://www.dailynorthwestern.com/home/i ... 8e48a9d83e

In the words of the Illinois tribe the Northwestern University Police are like a blade of buffalo grass that will bend over in any wind.