Immigration
The University of Chicago often boasts its commitment to ‘Diversity and Inclusion’ in order to falsely advertise itself as a welcoming, elite university. However, this is not reflective of its actions, especially regarding marginalized students and the community at large. The University prolongs a nationwide pattern of harmful policies and actions against migrant communities by refusing to properly assist its noncitizen population without self-serving motives.
UChicago Without Borders (UWB), alongside other immigration organizing groups like the UChicago Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, works to protect and support immigrant groups at the College, especially low-income, non-citizen groups. The administration has ignored their calls for the University to adopt a ‘Sanctuary Campus’ status and cut ties with ICE to protect members of their community from deportation. Besides increased and better publicized programming, which can be attributed to the work of Devon Moore and the CCSS, no gains have been made. Members of UWB were offered an advisory group and have been “listened” to by the university DACA Working Group after their successful petition, yet no actual work towards achieving this status had been done during these meetings. UWB has been able to increase the number of legal screenings and Know your Rights Workshops. Organizers’ requests for HEERF funding to be disbursed immediately to students previously ineligible due to their status under Biden’s new changes were led to believe plans were actively being made to disburse the funds only to find out the University did not plan to disburse any funds until months later. When asked to confront the University’s complicity in harm inflicted on migrant communities due to their ties with ICE, such as inviting Palantir to recruit on campus, that subject is immediately shut down. Clearly, selective listening is all administrators are willing to do, putting meaningful change completely out of the question.
Student representative bodies such as SG frequently exhibit a distaste for organizers and their work which cements their status in existing as aggressive agents of the University’s administration, rather than willing representatives of the student body especially for marginalized communities that are ignored by the University. Working with SG’s Committee on
Marginalized Student Affairs (COMSA) was one of the few favorable interactions between UWBxSG as they provided UWB with necessary funds for projects.
Zain Jamshaid’s story is another example of University sometimes apathetic and others antagonistic interaction with non-citizens. After he reported that he was assaulted several times by a faculty member, the University retaliated against him. They placed him almost immediately on academic probation and removed members of his dissertation committee without basis. The accommodations he requested for PTSD due to the assault were denied despite extensive evidence. He was even terminated from his PhD program, taking away his Visa and thus legal status in the United States. More details can be found on the video UWB created with Zain.
If you need funds for applications, status renewals, or other expenses, contact the director of the CCSS, Talaya LeGette, at tlegette@uchicago.edu (can also contact with general questions/concerns) For Illinois-based, non-UChicago resources, call the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights' Family Support Hotline at 1-855-435-7693.
Leave of Absence as an International Student Students may request a leave of absence (LOA) for several reasons, but international students need to take extra steps to ensure their immigration status is not affected by this process (if you’d like to stay in the US during your LOA). Here is where to find the steps:
Existing Resources include undocumented ally workshops through the Center for Identity and Inclusion as well as a directory towards other local and national resources for undocumented or DACAmented students.
