A Haven Hall classroom was
overflowed with University of
Michigan students listening to a
series of speakers who discussed
the
Deferred
Action
for
Childhood Arrivals program,
which may come under threat
because of executive actions by
President Donald Trump.
DACA, an executive action
— signed in 2012 by former
President Barack Obama in
response to a gridlock on
immigration
policy
on
the
part of Congress — protects
undocumented students from
deportation and allows them to
obtain work permits. However,
it does not provide a path to
citizenship.
Trump
has
repeatedly
advocated stricter immigration
laws, deporting undocumented
workers and building a wall
along the southern border with
Mexico. On Saturday, University
President
Mark
Schlissel
reaffirmed
the
University’s
commitment to international
students
by
reiterating
its
policy against releasing the
immigration status of students.
The announcement followed
Trump’s signing of an executive
action
barring
immigration
from several majority-Muslim
countries.
The first speaker, Karma
Chavez, a professor at the
University
of
Texas-Austin,
said she believes immigration
is currently one of the most
prominent issues today.
“I am very excited to be here
for this occasion,” she said. “I
don’t think there is anything
more crucial we can be talking
about in this moment. And
I have shifted what I have
planned to focus on a bit
because the last two weeks have
been rather intense.”
Citing
the
political
turbulence of the last three
weeks, she focused on sanctuary
cities, which have become a
rallying point for many amid
anti-immigrant rhetoric and
actions from the White House.
In recent months, the Central
Student Government has been
working toward making the
University a sanctuary campus.
Chavez argues institutional
sanctuary is more of a fallacy
than anything else, and while
universities and cities can help
facilitate grassroots movements
in
favor
of
undocumented
people, their connections to
institutions will keep them
inherently suspicious in their
eyes.
She
also
noted
that,
while schools are obviously
protected spaces, actions like
the outlawing of gun bans on
campuses in Texas, to the fact
that schools do not have the
Gretchen
Whitmer,
former
Democratic minority leader in the
Michigan state Senate and lecturer
at the Ford School of Public
Policy, addressed the University
of Michigan’s chapter of College
Democrats Thursday night about
her
candidacy
for
Michigan
governor in 2018.
Whitmer
officially
filed
paperwork
for
the
upcoming
gubernatorial race in January,
becoming the first candidate to
officially enter.
Previously,
Whitmer
served
in
the
Michigan
House
of
Representatives from 2001 to 2006,
the Michigan Senate from 2006
to 2014 and most recently served
as the Ingham County prosecutor
until her term expired on Dec. 31,
2016.
Whitmer cited the Flint Water
Crisis as one of the chief reasons
why she decided to run for governor
in 2018, saying if elected, she will
strive to ensure that a government
failure of that proportion will never
happen again.
“The Flint Water Crisis is
maybe what put me over the
michigandaily.com
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Friday, February 3, 2017
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INDEX
Vol. CXXVII, No. 22
©2016 The Michigan Daily
N E WS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
O PI N I O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
S U D O K U . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
CL A S S I F I E DS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
See WHITMER, Page 3
Governor
candidate
talks with
students
GOVERNMENT
Gretchen Whitmer met
with College Democrats
to talk voter engagement
CALEB CHADWELL
Daily Staff Reporter
CAROLYN GEARIG/Daily
LSA professor Silvia Pedraza discusses the impact of child immigration policy at Haven Hall on Thursday.
Professors discuss the impact
of Pres. Trump on DACA future
Series of speakers talk immigration in light of current political context
NIKOLA JAKSIC
For the Daily
michigandaily.com
For more stories and coverage, visit
See DACA, Page 3
Following
Justice
Sonia
Sotomayor’s and German Justice
Susanne
Baer’s
bicentennial
colloquium
discussion
on
Monday, three University of
Michigan
faculty
members
hosted a panel discussing the
justices’ remarks and the issues
of diversity and representation
on campus in the Michigan
League Ballroom on Thursday
afternoon. About 75 students,
faculty and Ann Arbor residents
attended the event.
Presidential Bicentennial Prof.
Martha Jones gave the opening
remarks at Monday’s colloquium.
The
colloquium
largely
focused the University’s lack of
diversity. On Monday, Sotomayor
referenced the low number of
African-American students at
the University. As of October
2016, less than 5 percent of
students at the University are
African American.
“We
are
making
large
improvements towards a kind of
equality but we are still far from
it,” Sotomayor said. “When you
look at the number of African
See SOTOMAYOR, Page 3
Panel talks
Sotomayor,
Baer visit,
diversity
CAMPUS LIFE
The professors discussed
the lack of diversity on
the University’s campus
MATT HARMON
Daily Staff Reporter
Office hours were held in
the hallways of Haven Hall
on Thursday as the Graduate
Employees’
Organization
—
the labor union representing
graduate student instructors and
graduate student staff assistants
employed by the University of
Michigan — held a “grade-in”
to promote awareness of the
contract-bargaining process they
have been undertaking with the
University since November and
to increase visibility of graduate
student labor.
About 100 GSIs and GSSAs
crowded the ledges and the floor
along the hall from 10 a.m. to 2
p.m. for the grade-in, in an effort to
make the work graduate students
do for undergraduate students
and the University visible.
Some of the GEO’s proposals,
intended to improve diversity,
equity, inclusion and accessibility
for graduate student employees,
were declined or not satisfactorily
met by the University’s most
recent offer.
“We hope that this (grade-in)
indicates to the University that
we’re paying attention and that
we expect more,” said Rackham
student Denise Bailey, a member
of the GEO.
“The University, in our opinion,
can afford to support us more
than they do,” Bailey added, citing
that 23 percent of undergraduate
contact with faculty is with GSIs,
but 1 percent of the University’s
budget is reserved for graduate
student staff, a statistic included
in the GEO’s press releases.
When reached for comment,
University spokeswoman Kim
Broekhuizen wrote in an email,
“Negotiations are underway, so
it would be premature to get into
specifics. We believe we will reach
a successful resolution.”
Among the proposals that
GEO representatives say have not
been met by the University is the
creation of paid staff positions
for graduate students working
on diversity programs as part of
the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
plan launched by University
GEO holds
‘grade-in’
to publicize
demands
Executive order teach-in explores
visa, green card holders’ rights
See GEO, Page 3
KEVIN ZHENG/Daily
Michigan ACLU Deputy Director Rana Elmir discusses the Executive Order on immigrants and refugees and its potential impact on UM Students at Angell Hall on
Thursday.
ADMINISTRATION
GSI’s held office hours in the Haven
Hall hallways for rights awareness
ALON SAMUEL
For the Daily
Deputy director of Michigan ACLU and Muslim American Studies Dept. host event
Recent
executive
actions
by President Donald Trump’s
administration
prompted
an
“Executive
Order
Teach-In”
event featuring Rana Elmir,
the deputy director of the
American Civil Liberties Union
of Michigan. At the talk Elmir
discussed the rights of citizens,
green-card holders and visa
holders in light of an executive
order signed last Friday.
The University of Michigan
Muslim
Graduate
Student
Association
and
Arab
and
Muslim
American
Studies
Department hosted the event,
which filled a classroom in
Angell Hall and two overflow
rooms.
Elmir
examined
the
executive
order
signed
on
Jan. 27, titled “Protesting the
Nation from Foreign Terrorist
Entry into the United States,”
which
most
notably
blocks
entry
of
immigrants
and
nonimmigrants
from
Iraq,
Iran, Sudan, Libya, Yemen and
Somalia for 90 days — with the
possibility of renewal — and
Syria indefinitely.
The executive order also
suspends
the
U.S.
Refugee
Admissions
Program,
which
works to find and resettle
immigrants
in
the
United
States, for 120 days.
Elmir said she believes this
executive order is specifically
a
Muslim
ban,
which
is
demonstrated by the specifics
of the executive order.
“Anti-Muslim discrimination
has been a part of American
history for as long as Muslims
have been in this country,”
Elmir said. “And you move
forward and put in policies and
practices that show that you
devalue this community. Well
that’s what you have now, with
this Muslim ban.”
LSA senior Tamanna Ahad,
a Muslim affected personally
by the executive order, hopes
the event can help nurture
conversation and knowledge
regarding immigration.
COLIN BERESFORD
Daily Staff Reporter
See GREEN CARD, Page 3