Berkeley student gov members advocate for illegal immigrant protections on student fee-funded trip to capital

Student government officials from the University of California, Berkeley recently made a student fee-funded visit to Sacramento to advocate for legal protections for illegal immigrant students.

The Daily Californian has reported that members of the UC Berkeley’s Associated Students of the University of California (ASUC) attended a state legislative session on Dec. 3 that was designed to “safeguard California values and fundamental rights” before the incoming Trump administration takes office.

The Berkeley ASUC’s Office of External Affairs Vice President, a student fee-funded campus organization, organized the trip for student government members.

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California Governor Gavin Newsom arranged for the special session two days after Donald Trump’s decisive presidential victory over Vice President Kamala Harris on Nov. 5.

”The special session responds to the public statements and proposals put forward by President-elect Trump and his advisors, and actions taken during his first term in office — an agenda that could erode essential freedoms and individual rights, including women’s rights and LGBTQ+ rights,” a Nov. 7 press release from the governor’s office reads. “A special session allows for expedited action that will best protect California and its values from attacks.”

One Berkeley ASUC senator gave a speech during the special session about how the new administration may impact “communities of color,” such as the “Middle Eastern, Muslim, Sikh and South Asian” (MEMSSA) community, The Daily Californian reports. 

Students were also reportedly able to attend lobbying sessions that featured Democrat Assemblymembers Liz Ortega and Buffy Wick.

Berkeley student attendees promoted the ASUC External Affairs Vice President’s proposal to defend illegal immigrant students, called, “Defend Our Education, Defend Our Lives.”

”We urge Attorney General Bonta to exercise California’s state sovereignty by challenging federal subpoenas that seek student immigration status information,” the plan states, according to The Daily Californian. “California must strengthen and reissue mandatory guidance for higher education institutions to provide real-time alerts… about ICE presence or enforcement activities on or near campus.”

[RELATED: USC student gov votes in favor of ‘Undocumented Trojan Success Assembly’]

UC Berkeley features an Undocumented Student Program (USP) that “provides guidance and support to undocumented undergraduate and graduate students.”

”USP practices a holistic, multicultural and solution-focused approach that delivers individualized service for each student,” the program’s description reads. “The mental health support, academic counseling, legal support, financial aid resources and extensive campus referral network provided by USP helps students develop the unique gifts and talents they each bring to the university, while empowering a sense of belonging.”

Operated through the Centers for Educational Equity and Excellence (CE3) in the Division of Equity and Inclusion, USP works to “support the advancement of undocumented students within higher education and promote pathways for engaged scholarship.” Similarly, the CE3 aims to assist Berkley’s “systemically marginalized students.”