How many illegal immigrants attend Cornell University, anyway? After an independent contractor working for the U.S. Office of Personnel Management signed in at the visitor booth Tuesday, word quickly spread that an agent from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was on campus.
OPM, ICE … no wonder the school community was on high alert.
https://twitter.com/soflosantiago/status/861966151777226752
https://twitter.com/adebclay/status/861955377465896960
https://twitter.com/LaurenNGriffin/status/861956383188668416
I just received an email stating that it is ICE? (I covered the last name and the phone number in the email) pic.twitter.com/n9fWRl06ln
— Bryan Riddell (@BryanRiddell) May 9, 2017
https://twitter.com/p_enaK/status/861959167258525696
“'There are so many conflicting sources scaring the s*** out of people,' Vanessa Navarro Rodriguez ’18 told The Sun…'Everyone is scared.'” https://t.co/cGOIWTLZiU
— Sarah Boxer (@Sarah_Boxer) May 10, 2017
After what some are describing as “hours of fear,” President Martha E. Pollack eventually sent a campus-wide email explaining that the government contractor was visiting the Ithaca campus “to conduct a routine background check related to an individual’s application for a job with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.”
No, ICE is not at Cornell Tuesday afternoon but community remains on high alert #Twithaca https://t.co/OEcpWe9mLx pic.twitter.com/BwcCAop5MN
— The Ithaca Voice (@ithacavoice) May 9, 2017
BREAKING: After hours of rumors and fear, Cornell confirms no immigration enforcement agents are on campus #twithaca https://t.co/DvOAmb4C1d
— The Cornell Daily Sun (@cornellsun) May 9, 2017
"Hours of Fear" on Cornell campus after fed background investigator seen on campus, mistaken for ICE https://t.co/NuYKMepsKN via @Nickatnews
— Jessica Vaughan (@JessicaV_CIS) May 10, 2017
Campus Reform reports that at least two organizations, the Cornell DREAM Team and La Association Latina, issued warnings to fellow students, as did at least one professor.
Cornell sent into panic by false reports of ICE agent on campus https://t.co/1writEUDkm
— Campus Reform (@campusreform) May 10, 2017
So, it seems all of the panic on campus was sparked by someone applying for a job. That must not be as common as it was back when we were at college.
Why was everyone on campus so on edge? ICE agents had made their presence in the area known a week beforehand:
https://twitter.com/RosaGoldensohn/status/862404247635329024
If you aren't breaking the law why should you panic? ICE is enforcing our laws.
— J J.????? (@JJYS0913) May 10, 2017
ICE might be enforcing the law, but Pollack’s email, citing diversity as one of the school’s greatest strengths, made it clear that the university would work “to continually support and defend the most vulnerable among us.”
What do they teach there anyway? Hmm … what’s “America Confronts the World” about? America’s great diversity!
Instructor: Peter J. Katzenstein
Fall 2017
Donald Trump and Barak Obama give us two visions of America and of the world: xenophobic nationalism and pragmatic cosmopolitanism. America and the world are thus constituted by great diversity.
Cornell joins the 'resistance' & offers a class called, "America Confronts the World".Discussing Trump's 'xenophobic nationalism' vision. pic.twitter.com/Ap4lWxsTMz
— Corryn? (@Corrynmb) May 6, 2017
* * *
Related:
Oberlin College students petition to make their school a sanctuary campus inside their sanctuary city https://t.co/Nw7CUewfA1
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) November 16, 2016
Join the conversation as a VIP Member