On March 4, UM System President Mun Choi signed an executive order outlining a process for law enforcement compliance. It was passed as Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are going to campuses around the country to detain those whose speech the Trump administration disagrees with.
Executive Order 51 outlines the process for faculty to address what the order calls “non-routine contacts” with government agencies, including law enforcement. The order requires faculty to contact University Police and their supervisor. University Police will then contact the Office of the General Counsel and the Chancellor’s Office for further instructions.
During the MU General Faculty Council meeting on Apr. 2, President Choi said the order was drafted because of faculty requests.
“Faculty members were asking us in the provost's office as well as the Chancellor’s Office, ‘What do we do if we have ICE individuals come in and try to apprehend one of the members of the class,’” he said. “So it was actually in response to the request that we received.”
MU Faculty Council chair Tom Warhover said the Intercampus Faculty Cabinet received the first draft on Feb. 13 and was asked to collect feedback from their respective councils and senates—which is not often asked for.
“I'm, frankly, grateful that we were given the opportunity to give feedback,” he said. “There's nothing that says the president has to get feedback for an executive order.”
Warhover said most of the feedback from faculty asked for clarification on the technical aspects, such as the phone numbers of whom to contact. Theresa Torres, the chair of University of Missouri-Kansas City faculty senate, also said their group also asked for clarification on protocol.
The situations faculty may encounter also depends on the kind of immigration violation ICE agents allege. Detentions for criminal immigration violations, such as unlawful entry to the U.S., are carried out by judicial warrants signed by a judge. However, detentions for civil immigration violations, such as overstaying a visa after being lawfully admitted, are executed by administrative warrants that are signed by an ICE official.
Bill Niffen, an immigration attorney in Kansas City, said the policy’s definition of a “properly executed warrant” most closely resembles a judicial warrant— which most ICE agents don’t have. Additionally, neither a judicial nor administrative warrant often includes any information about searches and seizures.
“An administrative warrant almost never has that,” Niffen said. “It just says, ‘we have authority to arrest John Doe because we think John Doe did an immigration violation.’ It has nothing to do with searching stuff, and it would be specific to that particular individual.”
In a statement about the purpose of the policy, the UM System said, “This order merely clarifies that stance and provides consistent procedures on how to comply with lawfully conducted government subpoenas, warrants and similar formal orders. The subject of this order falls within the responsibilities delegated by the board to the UM System president.”
Niffen said the lack of knowledge and language about what different warrants mean may leave room for potential points of conflict between faculty members and ICE agents.
While awaiting further instructions, the policy directs faculty members to document the date and time of the request and what information the requestor is asking for.
Niffen said that ICE agents may use intimidation tactics to gain information even while faculty members are waiting for directions.
“It seems to me that there'd be a lot of potential for exploitation of a lack of knowledge and a lack of understanding in whether that's the right to not say anything, or what a warrant or subpoena would allow ICE to obtain,” he said.
The order states it “promotes cooperation,” while also complying with laws protecting student, faculty and staff records.
However, Niffen pointed out the policy is aimed more at faculty and staff than students.
“Things like this are really not to the benefit of students,” he said. “I think that this is designed to give an advantage to ICE, to give an advantage to the government, and it's at the expense of the students.”
On March 25th, Tufts University student Rümeysa Öztürk was detained by plainclothes ICE agents outside of her Massachusetts home. The State Department cancelled her visa, with many believing it to be the result of an op-ed she published last year calling for the university to divest from Israel. News reports have since indicated such incidents are causing fear among international students across the country if they engage in any form of oppositional political speech.
In early March, the State Department began revoking several student visas for engaging in what the administration calls "destabilizing" acts. However, some students have had their visas revoked due to minor offenses, such as an unpaid traffic ticket. International students at the University of Missouri, Missouri State University and UMKC are among those who have had visas revoked.
Executive Order 51 does not specify where on campus law enforcement agents may go to detain faculty, staff or students. The UM System Office of General Counsel declined to comment on jurisdiction, saying only that the school “will follow and obey all applicable state and federal laws and regulations.”
A UM system spokesperson declined to comment on which federal and state laws and regulations might apply.
