SIU President Randy Dunn says the system will not be designated as a sanctuary campus for undocumented students.
Dunn said campus chancellors and other officials concluded that the concept of a sanctuary campus is not clearly defined in a legal sense and violating the law would put SIU and all of its students at risk, including the potential loss of federal financial aid. But, Dunn said the system would to everything it can - within the scope of the law - to support its students.
SIU Carbondale's Undergraduate Student Government and Graduate and Professional Student Council sent a letter to Dunn and Interim Chancellor Brad Colwell in December requesting the sanctuary campus declaration to protect undocumented students.
The issue caught fire on campuses across the country when during the campaign, Donald Trump promised to deport as many as 3 million immigrants who have criminal records or who are living in the country illegally. That prompted concerns about undocumented students attending college under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA.
SIU enrolls fewer than 60 DACA students among its system-wide enrollment of more than 30,000.
Dunn, Colwell and SIUE Chancellor Randy Pembrook are among the nearly 600 university leaders nationally who have signed a letter calling for the continuation of DACA.
