Tell DePaul's Administration to Build a Sanctuary and Break the Chain!

Last year, DePaul acknowledged the danger that ICE presents to our university community. YDSA applauds the progress our administration has made—scheduling Know Your Rights trainings, partnering with anti-ICE organizations, and more—but this is simply not enough. The university refuses to use Public Safety Alerts to warn students about confirmed ICE presence on or near campus, and the university still does business with Enterprise, a company which works deeply with ICE.

The Federal Government, with ICE as enforcers, is endangering the lives of immigrants and their families. At the start of this quarter, President Manuel said that he “does not know how our mission can support a truly neutral stance.”  And yet, through their inaction, our administrators actively choose to uphold DePaul’s complicity in ICE horrors. Enterprise aides and abets ICE operations by concealing their movements, and DePaul does the same by refusing our demand to institute mass ICE alerts, and continuing to do business with Enterprise. Numerous social organizations have already taken action by cutting ties with Enterprise, and universities across Illinois have already taken action by issuing ICE alerts. DePaul’s refusal to take action, then, is exceptional.

Catholics across the country have recognized the necessity of action—including the Los Angeles chapter of the Sisters of Social Service, who chose to stop doing business with Enterprise, and Pope Leo himself, who calls on interfaith anti-ICE activists to “stir the hearts and minds of their fellow citizens to overcome that indifference and detachment which reduces the human person to a statistic.” These are the values that DePaul should operate on, regardless of the religious beliefs of the individual. We demand that DePaul University institute a well-structured ICE alert system and sever all ties with Enterprise. By doing this much, DePaul will—

—Build a Sanctuary, and Break the Chain!

Our Demands

• Cut Ties with Enterprise: Demand that DePaul University end all direct and indirect partnerships and business relationships.

• Institute an ICE Alert System: Require DePaul University to use their existing Public Safety alert system to notify students of ICE presence on and around campus. 

• Involve the Student Body: Disclose DePaul’s financial entanglements—of which Enterprise is just one—and ensure students have a method to make binding decisions on the use of our tuition dollars.