Bay Area cautioned of ICE raids, Susan Lamb alerts DVC staff
Students hold signs expressing their opinions about DACA during an event on Diablo Valley College’s Pleasant Hill Campus on Sep. 7, 2017. (Inquirer File)
February 1, 2018
President Susan Lamb of Diablo Valley College sent out an email alerting faculty and staff about a growing concern that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids will soon be hitting the Bay Area.
The concern about the raids became apparent when California Sens. Kamala Harris and Dianne Feinstein contacted ICE director Thomas Homan about plans to perform ICE raids in the Bay Area after a San Francisco Gate article report.
The email sent out by Lamb emphasized that DVC will remain a safe location for DACA students.
“First and foremost, please reassure concerned students that DVC is a safe space for them, and we will not share any information about them with immigration enforcement,” wrote Lamb in the email.
Lamb asked the DVC staff to not cooperate if confronted by ICE officers but rather contact the President’s Office about the encounter.
The San Francisco Gate article regarding the situation said that “raids could get 1,500 people” and ICE is not talking about the raids.
Harris and Feinstein have said that if the raids do occur it will be an “abhorrent abuse of power.”
Contra Costa Community College District adopted a resolution last year in January to protect students against these raids.
The resolution states,“the Contra Costa Community College District police will not detain, question or arrest any individual solely on the basis of undocumented immigration status, whether actual or suspected.”
The news of ICE raids has also created fear across other Bay Area schools.
A border patrol vehicle was sighted on the Cal Berkeley campus which caused concern of a raid.
UC Berkeley responded to the vehicle sighting on Twitter stating, “Our understanding is that that they were invited to speak at the Global Entry Program about TSA checks and advice for international students. There is no raid.”
DVC Vice President Newin Orante said that there are no reports of ICE activity at DVC that he is aware of.
To protect DVC students during the raids Orante said “(The) district and DVC have engaged in conversation with 4CD Police Services Chief Carney.”
“I am confident that the District and DVC will do what it can to protect our students,” said Orante. “This also include the protection of our personnel.”
