Seattle Law School Stops ICE Internship Program To Prevent Illegal Alien Students From Feeling ‘Unsafe’

All about feelings.

Via Law and Crime:

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, commonly known as ICE, is no longer welcome at the Seattle University School of Law due to its “current policies and practices.” The school has announced that it has suspended an externship program law students were previously able to participate in for course credit and work experience after concerns were raised to school administrators that ICE’s presence on campus could frighten undocumented students.

According to the Seattle Times, a third-year law student named Alex Romero, who hopes to become an immigration lawyer, spotted ICE reps at an externship fair table in September and was unnerved by it. The Romero complained to administrators that this might scare undocumented students and said ICE’s presence runs counter to the school’s mission.

The school, a Jesuit Catholic private university, didn’t immediately make a decision about the program. Romero told the school newspaper, the Seattle Spectator, that he “prepared arguments on why this is inappropriate at our school and contrary to our mission and a list of other arguments.”

“The law school weighed the argument [that] the school has an ample responsibility to provide different options for different students and weighed it heavier than my arguments,” he added. Romero, however, started a petition and heightened pressure from additional students resulted in the school siding with his argument.

Externship program director Jill Dutton explained that after students raised concerns that the “ICE presence at our annual Externship Fair caused them to feel unsafe” it was concluded that there was a “real possibility” that placing a student with ICE “may force them to act unethically or unlawfully.”

Dean Annette Clark sent out a statement to say that “as educators, lawyers, and soon-to-be-lawyers, we hold particular power and bear a special responsibility to be peacemakers and to assist those who are suffering due to the unjust operation of our legal system, laws, and their enforcement.”

As a result, Clark said, that the externship placement program was suspended.

Keep reading…