By Daniel Afanasyev
The Undergraduate Student Government (USG) at Brooklyn College presented a joint resolution at a Dec. 5 Cabinet meeting calling on the BC and CUNY administration to reaffirm the rights of undocumented students in response to Donald Trump’s victory at the 2024 presidential election on Nov. 5.
President-elect Trump, who is slated to return to the White House on Jan. 20, 2025, has repeatedly promised to carry out the “largest deportation operation in American history,” according to the Sunday Times, and has more recently confirmed the use of the military to carry out the plan, according to a post on his social media platform Truth Social. To advocates, this directly puts undocumented people across the country, and those at CUNY schools such as BC, in a precarious and challenging position.
“In a just world, this document is not revolutionary. It calls simply for an affirmation of the rights undocumented students from all branches of CUNY governance, an effort from our administration to make more resources available to groups vulnerable to the policy goals of the Trump administration,” Dylan Karlowski, USG events director and the main author of the proposition, told The Vanguard. “It is important to the students afraid for their safety that their administrators at every level stand behind them unflinchingly. Students give their trust to CUNY every day they come to class, it must be repaid in the efforts of CUNY to make them feel safe and welcome.”
In the USG resolution that was sent to the Brooklyn College Administration, BC Faculty Council, CUNY Central Administration, and the CUNY Undergraduate Student Senate (USS), USG called on BC and the CUNY Board of Trustees “to affirm the rights of undocumented students, as well as affirm an intent of non-compliance with the United States Office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).”
For BC leaders, having this joint proposition is a means to show solidarity and support to those in the student body who may feel threatened by the upcoming U.S. administration. In addition, they advocate that every student can take a stand even if they are not directly impacted.
“A lot of people don’t realize how many people they know are in groups that feel threatened by the coming U.S. administration–whether based on their ethnicity, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, or socioeconomic background,” Noam Abrahams, USG’s president, told The Vanguard. “Advocating for marginalized groups isn’t only a task for those within them. Every single student on campus has benefitted from the diversity of Brooklyn College’s student body even if they don’t realize it.”
In addition, the proposition calls for “a town hall of students, faculty, staff, and administrators to discuss the current political moment and how we might best understand and support our student populations, which in light of Donald Trump’s victory, may become subject to discriminatory legislation or practices.” With the new year and upcoming spring semester expected to be a turbulent one for undocumented students across CUNY schools such as BC, USG expressed its commitment to safeguarding the place of undocumented students on campus.
“What’s important about this resolution isn’t just its goals, it’s a call for unity and collaboration. The only way that we can guarantee students get the support they deserve is if faculty, staff, and administration come together,” Abrahams said. “It’s not a policy proposal, it’s a call to build a supportive infrastructure for those most affected by political uncertainty.”