SGA proposal supports sanctuary campus

The Student Government Association (SGA) passed a resolution to support a proposal to make Hopkins a sanctuary campus at its weekly meeting in Charles Commons on Tuesday, Dec. 6. The resolution, presented by Senior Class Senator Jonathan Brown, passed with 21 votes in favor, four votes in opposition and one abstention.

Brown explained that the resolution was a suggestion to the administration rather than a policy that would be immediately enacted. He defined how a sanctuary campus would act to protect undocumented immigrants.

“A sanctuary campus is where we prevent U.S. Immigration and Customs [Enforcement] (ICE) officers from entering Johns Hopkins campuses now and in the future without permission from the University, in line with existing restrictions on immigration enforcement actions on places of worship, schools, and hospitals,” Brown said. “In order for ICE officials to come on campus, they would have to ask either President Daniels, Provost Kumar, Dean Wendland or Dean Schneider for permission.”

Senior Class Senator Andrew Phipps initiated a discussion on Baltimore’s policies regarding undocumented immigrants.

“Are we exempt from the policy of Baltimore being a sanctuary city, as a private institution? Because Baltimore is a sanctuary city,” Phipps said.

Freshman Class President Anthony Boutros countered by arguing that Baltimore was not a sanctuary city, although it had taken steps to protect immigrants and refugees.

“Stephanie Rawlings-Blake took certain actions that normal sanctuary cities would take, but Baltimore is not officially designated as a sanctuary city. It is a gray area,” Boutros said. “So in the case of the federal government, which is the troops taking undergrads away, then technically the city is not a sanctuary.”

Sophomore Class Senator Jennifer Baron initiated a discussion about the potential funding repercussions that might arise if Hopkins were to become a sanctuary campus.

“I think Trump said he might want to take federal funds away from universities, and so many schools at Hopkins take federal funding, including the School of Public Health and SAIS. Hopkins is a huge research institute,” Baron said. “The only fear, I guess, would be if they did take away funds from all those institutions.”

Senior Class Senator Matthew Brown argued that the chances of losing federal funding would be low.

“It’s a resolution, so there’s no guarantee that the school will even adopt it. And if for some reason the school did adopt it and then there was an issue, that would be a whole separate thing. But the odds of that happening are very slim to none.”

Phipps questioned whether the resolution’s goals were too partisan.

“This isn’t my view, so don’t hate me after I say it. But isn’t this theoretically taking a partisan view by saying we don’t support the deportation of illegal immigrants, as opposed to the other partisan view that we should deport illegal immigrants?” Phipps said.

Brown argued that Hopkins has a neutral responsibility to allow its students to complete their college education.

“A student is already here with the assumption that they’ll stay for four years and get an education. The school already has their money. And there’s no way that Hopkins could give you housing and accept your tuition, but then if someone were to say, ‘This is an illegal immigrant, let’s take them off campus and deport them,’ then Hopkins would be okay with that,” Brown said. “It’s about taking steps to show that if something were to happen, we would not accept it. Since you’re a Hopkins student, you’re part of us.”