Administration Responds to Anti-ICE Flyers in Academic Buildings

On March 28, a campus-wide email was sent by members of SUNY New Paltz’s administration in response to the appearance of flyers on the doors of the Humanities Building.

The email linked the university’s poster policy, which detailed designated communal posting spots and stated, “Prohibited posting activities include without limitation: posting of promotional flyers or leaflets on doors, windows, trees, light poles, vehicles, bus stops, indoor and outdoor walls and in elevators; promotion of events that advertise alcohol or drugs or any event that violates the law and/or the SUNY New Paltz Code of Conduct.” Flyers were claimed to have been taken down, though several posters remain, with new ones being printed and hung up.

A student involved in hanging up the flyers, who was granted anonymity for fear of university retaliation, commented on the email, stating, “It was clear the posters were outlined as a political threat and that they were being removed. They had to go back up.”

The flyers, headlined “PRIVATE SPACE,” were taped across the first, second and third floors of the Humanities classrooms as well as a few faculty doors on second and third floors of the JFT. Addressed to law enforcement, the message targeted any potential Immigrations Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers entering the spaces, directing them to turn away if they don’t have a judicial warrant signed by a judge. The flyer closes out by saying, “This is a public university. Here, we care for and nurture our students and our community. We never cage them. Migration is a human right.”

“Ultimately, a piece of paper can’t keep ICE out of the classroom, but them [the posters] being there can inspire people to do their own research, learn their rights, and they make clear a ‘judicial warrant’ is the only legitimate document ICE can show to detain someone,” said the anonymous student, when describing the purpose behind the flyers. “Their function is to provide a modicum of deterrence from ICE and build cognizance amongst the campus community.”

This is one of many responses to the current presidential administration that have occurred on campus in support of immigrant rights. Know Your Rights events offer students an educational space to learn about current immigration laws and how they can legally respond to ICE and law enforcement. Earlier in March, a rally was sponsored by several student organizations calling for SUNY New Paltz to declare itself a sanctuary campus, providing a safe haven for students against federal immigration enforcement. This comes as international college students across the U.S. are being targeted, taken and deported by ICE officials, some for their involvement in campus demonstrations in support of Palestine.

“It’s a draconian misuse of policy. The handbook is followed like moral law and this implementation leads to a villainization of people doing something harmless. There is really no reason to be so absolute with these policies, nobody is getting hurt or having their personal security threatened. No academic proceedings are being disrupted, everyone gets to continue as normal,” said the anonymous student in response to the implementation of the policy.

They continued, “By villainizing the tactic, administration obscures the issue at hand and clouds the need to protect undocumented peoples with a lens of villain-hood, because somehow a person putting up a poster makes them a criminal.”

The university declined to make further comment on the flyers.