The publicly-funded Washington State University will host a special workshop for students illegally in the country before the upcoming semester, offering free legal advice and counseling tips to current and incoming undergraduates.
The workshop is titled "Undocumented Initiatives at WSU" and is aimed at incoming freshmen, but any student is welcome to attend. Marcela Pattinson of the school's Office of Community, Equity and Inclusive Excellence, told the university's newspaper that her job is to "is to create programs and pathways for all the students, no matter the color of their skin or sexual orientation...and help them stay here and graduate."
"The workshop will also explain resources offered by the immigration clinic on campus, including a campus immigration lawyer and a student legal lawyer," The Daily Evergreen notes.
Activities at the workshop will include information about the "resources offered by the immigration clinic on campus, including a campus immigration lawyer and a student legal lawyer."
"[Undocumented students] decide when they want the help, or if they want the help,” Pattinson told the paper. "Maybe if I normalize being undocumented, more students will come to get the help."
In 2016, Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, told Time Magazine that colleges who implement policies like WSU may pose security risks.
"Colleges and universities cannot control the movement of law enforcement agencies onto their campuses," Vaughn said. "They cannot prevent ICE, for example, from coming onto a campus to make an arrest."
"Obstructing law enforcement and refusing to share information could be very problematic and could be contrary to federal law and rise to the level of harboring," she added.
WSU's workshop will be one hour, but resources are available to these students throughout the year.