U. Mass Students Plot Strike Against ‘Oppression’ of Migrants

A campus group demanding that the University of Massachusetts shield students from federal immigration law is preparing a strike “resisting the continued and intensified oppression” of migrants.

The UMass Amherst Sanctuary Campus Movement’s Facebook page states that students will not attend class on February 17 and instead will hold a meeting at the student union to demand a sanctuary campus policy.

“The UMass Amherst Sanctuary Campus Movement aims to have UMass declare itself a Sanctuary Campus system,” the group’s Facebook page reads. “We define Sanctuary as a space that actively cultivates immigration equality as well as economic, racial, gender, and sexual equality.”

The sanctuary campus group also lists three major demands from the University:

1. UMass Amherst will commit to protecting undocumented, refugee and international students, workers, staff, and faculty.
2. UMass Amherst will protect the aforementioned constituencies by not collaborating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). This means not sharing any information about students with ICE under any circumstances. This also means not using any of the university’s resources (human resources or UMPD) to facilitate the operations of ICE under any circumstances.
3. UMass Amherst commits to becoming a Sanctuary Campus through community engagement by way of public forums and working with the community including but not limited to unions, students, faculty and staff, activist groups, and cultural centers.

The group has asked students not to support the University of Massachusetts financially until it enacts a sanctuary campus policy, as MassLive reported.

In a week, the UMass Student Government Association will vote on a resolution to demand Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy make the university a sanctuary.

Subbaswamy has signaled potential support for the policy in a statement where is says the University will remain “committed to the welfare and success of all members of our community, whether they be student, faculty or staff, and (pledges) to do everything within our legal and moral authority to protect them, no matter their national origin, race, religion, socioeconomic status, sexual identity, disability or immigration status,” according to MassLive.

John Binder is a contributor for Breitbart Texas. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.