PRESS STATEMENT: ALL ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS DESERVE TO LEARN WITHOUT FEAR
TEMPE, AZ – Aliento at ASU is an official student club at Arizona State University, established in 2018 to provide resources and welcoming spaces for DACA, undocumented, and mixed-status students. As an extension of Aliento, the club shares its mission of transforming trauma into hope and action. Through youth-led initiatives, Aliento at ASU advocates alongside communities directly impacted by the inequities of lacking immigration status. Committed to the overall well-being of all students, the organization continues to champion their right to education, regardless of immigration status or background.
We share their concerns regarding the recent statements and planned actions by the College Republicans United at Arizona State University, which directly impact our community. We do not condone the targeting or harmful actions taken against individuals based on their immigration status, especially in a university. Arizona State University should be a place for learning, not discrimination and harmful targeting. The statements and planned actions taken by the College Republicans United at Arizona State are intended to induce fear on campus and promote more anxiety and division within our community. We firmly stand against this and any type of violation of the Arizona Board of Regents Code of Conduct and student club handbook guidelines.
Students should not have to fear to attend classes and pursue their degrees due to their peers' intimidation attempts. These cruel actions jeopardize students’ futures, education, and safety. Institutions should be places of learning. As student clubs, we should support our peers to achieve greatness, not instill fear and promote harassment of one another. We stand wholeheartedly with every student regardless of their immigration status. As student clubs, current students, and alumni, we affirm the commitment to protect and advocate for everyone’s rights. We will not stay silent in the face of injustices occurring. We will always be a resource to those who need it and are committed to continuing to build the legacy of Arizona State University’s charter to be “a comprehensive public research university, measured not by whom it excludes, but by whom it includes and how they succeed.”
Aliento at ASU, alongside student organizations, students, and alumni, acknowledges the importance of respecting educational security in academic institutions. The presence of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement threatens the safety of students and their ability to pursue a higher education. We stand in opposition to any attempts of intimidation and harassment.
We join Aliento at ASU to ask that student services ensure that President Crow’s previous commitments towards Dreamers of “helping them obtain the college education they deserve and that our country’s continued greatness requires that they have” be upheld.
We urge that Arizona State University take the following actions:
Ensure I.C.E officials not be authorized to enter any of the ASU campuses without a judicial warrant,
Ensure all Student Clubs are not violating the student club handbook guidelines, and if they are, to face consequences,
Assure students that they will not be targeted at schools by their peers without facing consequences,
Ensure all students, regardless of immigration status, can fully participate in academic activities without harassment or discrimination protected under the Arizona Board of Regents Code of Conduct.
We ask that the Arizona State University administration, faculty, alumni, and student body stand with us.
