This is supposed to be a college, right? Not an anti-government paramilitary training camp, right?
Campus Reform reports:
Vassar students advised to use encrypted apps like Signal for anti-ICE organizingStudents and faculty at Vassar College have spent weeks organizing anti-ICE activism through protests, workshops, and legislative advocacy efforts aimed at limiting immigration enforcement in New York.The activism escalated on April 14 when roughly 40 students from Vassar and Bard College gathered outside New York State Sen. Rob Rolison’s office in Poughkeepsie to pressure him to support the Mandating End of Lawless Tactics (MELT) Act and the New York for All Act, according to The Miscellany News.Video posted by Vassar For the Many showed one student calling Rolison a “coward” for declining to endorse the legislation.The MELT Act would prohibit law enforcement officers from wearing masks or concealing identifying information while interacting with the public.The New York for All Act would restrict state and local cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) by barring officials from sharing sensitive information with the federal agency without a judicial warrant, and limiting access to non-public government property.The protest came days before New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced an immigration policy package that included provisions similar to both bills.Beyond demonstrations, Vassar students have organized multiple campus events centered on resisting immigration enforcement.On March 29 and March 30, Amica Center for Immigrant Rights staff attorney Sabrina Surgil led “Know Your Rights” workshops for students and organizations.The presentation warned students that ICE has allegedly targeted students involved in activism related to “pro-Palestine speech, anti-Trump, pro-immigration” causes.“Over the last year, [DHS and ICE] have been targeting student advocacy re: pro-Palestine speech, anti-Trump, pro-immigration, etc.,” one slide states.Students were also instructed that ICE agents can “only freely access public spaces on college campuses” and that members should not consent to agents entering private spaces without a judicial warrant signed by a judge.Another slide encouraged organizations to limit publicly available personal information about students, advising groups not to publish members’ names, legal identities, immigration statuses, or photographs without explicit permission.Workshop attendees were also encouraged to communicate through the encrypted messaging platform Signal when discussing sensitive matters. They were also advised to leave mobile devices at home or disable facial recognition settings during protests or advocacy events.
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