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700 Michigan State workers won’t help immigration agents

Posted at 10:51 AM, Mar 15, 2017
and last updated 2017-03-15 10:51:50-04

EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Roughly 700 Michigan State University employees have signed a statement vowing not to help federal immigration officials seeking to apprehend or deport students.

The Lansing State Journal reports Wednesday the faculty and staff members signed the “statement of solidarity” with students who are refugees, immigrants or children of immigrants. The statement says they support university President Lou Anna Simon, who said the East Lansing school “must not allow fear to change the nature of who we are.”

A release says the statement isn’t intended to be a call for disobeying laws, but a refusal to collaborate with federal investigators.

The move comes amid an immigration crackdown by the Trump administration, including a revised travel ban expected to go into effect Thursday. That’s being scrutinized Wednesday in federal courtrooms nationwide.