Immigration Raids on Campus!!

I am forwarding this email i received in hopes of spreading the word about the injustice that the 'war on terror' has brought to immigrant students and immigrants in general. WE NEED TO ACT SOON TO STOP THIS, WE NEED TO PUT PRESSURE AND HOLD OUR UNIVERSITIES AND PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS ACCOUNTABLE FOR NOT KEEPING THIS HAPPENING TO ANYONE ELSE!!

By Kaitlin Pike

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Immigration and Customs Enforcements (ICE) agents arrested and took
into custody a third-year UCSB student early Wednesday morning for
possible violation of immigration laws.

"Three days ago my friend called her to have lunch with her," said
Heidi Yoon, an international student from Korea and friend of the
arrested third-year student. "She was crying and she said she couldn't
tell where she was? I don't know if she didn't know or if she didn't
want to tell." Yoon was shocked to learn that her friend was still in
custody, and said she did not know what would become of her. Yoon
wasn't alone in this response; scores of interviewed residents and
employees at the Santa Ynez Apartments complex where the student lives
had not heard news of the incident, and many were unsettled after
finding out what had occurred.

The student, a sociology and philosophy major, is of Korean descent,
though her citizenship or legal immigrant status remains unclear. Her
family, many members of which live in Los Angeles, has retained Leon
Hazany from the Beverly Hills based law offices of Asherson, Klein &
Darbinian ? specialists in immigration law. Hazany did not return
calls made Friday afternoon for comment.

Despite being the only resident taken into custody Wednesday, the
woman was not the ICE's target when they entered her apartment. Agents
came to her place at the Santa Ynez complex on El Colegio Road in
search of her roommate, an international graduate student from Iran.
The graduate student has also yet to return messages seeking comment.

The ICE records of the Iranian student allegedly had some
irregularities or missing information, apparently prompting the early
morning visit. After producing proper paperwork and identity
information, the agents, satisfied with their finds, reportedly turned
to her roommates to see their documentation or proof of legal status.
After the third-year student failed to provide sufficient
verification, agents took her in.

As of Friday afternoon, the student was being held in a Ventura County
detention center, though she may be moved to to San Pedro. A public
information officer for the ICE said she did not have access to the
case Friday afternoon, but would be able to provide more information
this coming Tuesday.

"I'm very worried about her," Yoon said of her friend. Yoon met the
woman last quarter, and said that she had been in the U.S. since at
least high school. She described her as "outgoing" and "fun." "She
liked Facebook," Yoon said while laughing.

News of the arrest sputtered through a small circle of UCSB
instructors and students Thursday and Friday, though many quickly
challenged the "raid" of the apartment and subsequent arrest of the
undergraduate student. Some, like religious student professor Rudy
Busto, told students during lecture time or sent emails out to alert
the campus community.

"I heard this from a colleague in my department last evening, and
today university officials have been notified about the incident?"
Busto wrote in an email to faculty members and graduate students on
Thursday. He focused on the questioning of the Iranian student, who
also teaches a course in Farsi at UCSB. "It is clear that this home
invasion was entirely inappropriate and unnecessary, as issues of the
legal and proper employment status for the targeted instructor could
have been handled through regular university processes for requesting
information."

Darwin BondGraham, a sociology graduate student, said he had been in
correspondence with several professors and Chancellor Henry Yang about
what could be done. He scoffed at the necessity of the interrogation
and arrest, and pondered how prevalent such tactics had become. "Where
else is this happening in the U.S.? How many other international
students are being questioned and detained in the middle of the night?
How many people does this happen to that we don't hear about? Why is
this happening?" he asked. "The 'war on terror' has come home in a
very ugly way. I know a lot foreign students and their friends who are
very much on edge now. The prospect of being interrogated in the
middle of the night is horrible."

UCSB Assistant Vice Chancellor for Public Affairs Paul Desruisseaux
said the Chancellor arranged for the arrested woman's lawyer to talk
with the UC general counsel in order to obtain any necessary
documentation about her student status. He said campus officials and
the chancellor will work with authorities and the family until a
resolution is reached. "He's taking what steps he can in the best
interest of the students," Desruisseaux explained.

Kaitlin Pike is an Independent intern.