The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s plan to convert two warehouses near the University of North Georgia’s Gainesville campus into a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center has raised concerns among community members and students.
UNG Director of Public Safety and Deputy Chief Operating Officer Greg Williams said he “understands and shares the concerns” of students and community members about the planned detention center but is not concerned that it will bring ICE to campus.
“The mere presence of that detention center doesn’t mean there’s going to be enhanced enforcement on our campus,” Williams said, adding that he believes ICE operations at universities tend to be “pretty targeted.”
He also explained the university’s policy regarding federal immigration enforcement.
“We as an institution and Department of Public Safety operate within the constraints of the law, and the law currently allows ICE officers to conduct ICE operations in public spaces,” Williams said. “Our campus is considered a public space.”
Williams said campus police routinely collaborate with federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and would do the same with ICE if necessary. However, he said the university has no insight into ICE’s operations and would likely only learn of such activity once it was already occurring on campus.
He said UNG does not share personal information about students or employees with federal agencies such as ICE but could be legally required to do so under certain circumstances, including a subpoena, search warrant or judicial warrant. Any information sharing would operate within guidelines established by the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act.
If ICE were to request information about students or employees, Williams said he cannot guarantee the university would disclose that request to the UNG community. However, he said the university’s Department of Public Safety would cooperate with ICE in carrying out lawful operations.
“Our plan is to cooperate,” Williams said, stressing that the primary objective of the UNG Department of Public Safety is to keep campus safe and minimize disruptions to the learning environment. “What we promise is that we’ll be a supportive measure and try to facilitate as peaceful a carrying out of their duties as possible.”
If a member of the UNG community is confronted by an immigration officer on campus, Williams advises them to follow legally required compliance regulations and “not resist in any way, shape or form.”
He encourages students, employees and visitors who notice unfamiliar law enforcement activity on campus to contact UNG Public Safety at 706-864-1500.
“Let us know that there’s a non-UNG law enforcement agency on campus and that you’re concerned about their activity or their actions, and we will respond to that,” Williams said. “We will try to collaborate and cooperate with them to try to understand what they’re here for.”
