Five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos, nine-year-old Susej F. and 14-year-old Ariana V. V. are three nationally publicized examples of the many children who have been abducted and detained by ICE. Renee Good and Alex Pretti were both publicly executed by ICE, in broad daylight, on camera, and neither they nor the multitude of other people slain by ICE have received any sort of justice, instead being slandered as “terrorists” by the Department of Homeland Security. 

The Trump administration and ICE are spreading terror and fear among the American populace, both nationally and in our local communities. Seattle, which has already seen significant ICE activity, stands in fear of a targeted ICE crackdown similar to Minneapolis. Fear for our own and our neighbors’ safety is palpable, especially after the detention of a man in Bellevue a week ago, and the husband of former Washington Congressional Candidate Zahid Chaudary a few months ago. 

Seattle U faculty and students have taken it upon themselves to distribute “Know Your Rights” cards. Signs are being posted outside of classrooms and offices displaying messages that read, “This is a private, nonpublic space,” with neighbors of the First Hill Campus displaying similar signs outside their establishments. 

Last month, an invitation to the Border Protection Office of Professional Responsibility for the Criminal Justice and Crime Research Center’s annual career fair was met with strong opposition. Around the same time, a woman who claimed to be with the Department of Defense visited the Billodue Makerspace front desk. Students initially mistook the visit as ICE-related, sending students into a panic.

The Seattle U community has asked, and continues to ask for clarity in the administration’s response to ICE actions; for direct communication about potential threats; for the university’s administration to show that they are listening to the fears of its students and acting in accordance with its Jesuit Mission. 

Despite an outcry from students, faculty and staff, the university has avoided making any sort of statement on recent ICE operations. Seattle U has previously made clear that it will not make statements on politicized or geopolitical issues. President Eduardo Peñalver believes that the purpose of a university is not to tell students what to think, but to teach them how to think. 

But what is happening now is different. The violation of due process and the erosion of constitutional powers of the First, Fourth and Fifth Amendments is not a matter of picking one side over another. We are not asking the school to interfere in a spirited debate between two sides; we are asking them to stand up for democracy.

It’s not enough to point students to prayer. We are already praying and wishing for the safety and prosperity of our peers and vulnerable communities.

It’s not enough to send mass emails about how “our community has a shared sense of heaviness, confusion, grief, anger, and concern in response to the social and political realities unfolding around us.” What is happening around us? Why are people concerned, grieving and angry? We know what is happening, and we are talking about it. Are you?

It’s not enough to inform students of ICE or Customs and Border Protection’s presence only after evaluating whether or not they pose a threat. Why does the university need to “evaluate” whether an organization that has brutalized people, that let 32 people die in custody last year, that is aggressively targeting communities that the Jesuit tradition has historically provided sanctuary for, poses a serious or ongoing threat before informing the campus community? 

As a Jesuit Catholic university grounded in the philosophical tradition of Saint Ignatius, Seattle U has a duty not only to protect its immigrant and undocumented community but also to make itself a place they can trust as a sanctuary.

The vision of Seattle U is to be one of the most “innovative” and “progressive” Jesuit and Catholic universities in the world. How can it call itself progressive when its leaders fail to condemn attacks on democracy, and more importantly, humanity?

Touting Jesuit ideals and values while ignoring the Catholic tradition of helping those who need it most and turning a blind eye to the leaders of the Catholic Church, including the Pope himself, who has condemned the current actions of Trump and ICE, is immoral. Promoting Cura Personalis, progressive values and a just and humane world while simultaneously ignoring students’ cries to be proactive and commit to protecting our most vulnerable populations is an unsustainable hypocrisy.

If our university claims to stand for justice, it cannot remain silent while our government perpetuates and normalizes brutal injustice. There comes a time when silence, neutrality and  avoiding student, staff and faculty wishes is unacceptable. That time is when constitutional rights and powers are ignored. That time is when innocent people are murdered in the street by government officials. That time is now.