The student senate is considering establishing a legal retainer, an agreement where a lawyer is paid in advance, to provide direct legal representation for undergraduate students amid growing concerns about immigration enforcement and civil rights.
The reason for this proposal stemmed from concerns about the current political climate and reports on immigration detention, according to Kairy Gonzalez, the cultural affairs chair of the student senate.
“There’s a lot of things going on in many different situations, many different capacities and I just feel as though the undergraduate student population should have some type of assistance,” Gonzalez said.
The retainer would be available to the undergraduate student population, though conversations have focused solely on situations involving detentions, according to Gonzalez.
“It’s more so a retainer for the situation of an undergraduate student needing a lawyer for whatever the situation may be,” Gonzalez said. “Although this is primarily regarding the situation of being detained or something along those lines.”
Students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds may not have the finances to secure legal representation on short notice, according to Gonzalez.
“If I were in the situation of me having to get a lawyer, I’d be in a very bad situation,” Gonzalez said. “So having a retainer would just be helpful for any student, because we never know what can happen.”
The senate previously maintained a legal retainer position, but now is bringing this position back with a general focus, according to Ryan Niro, the College of Arts and Sciences representative.
“We had looked into the previous position as established with the legal retainer, and we decided to reestablish this position, especially with regards to incidents that are happening around the state with apprehensions of people and detaining people, especially immigrants,” Niro said.
The senate is seeking someone with expertise in immigration law and civil rights, according to Niro.
“This person would have a broader, more nuanced look into immigration law and civil rights,” Niro said.
Under the proposal, the retainer would represent undergraduate students, with particular emphasis on immigrants and international students, however services wouldn’t be limited to those groups.
“This person would represent just about any student,” Niro said. “Most specifically…immigrants and people from abroad.”
The initiative is still in the early stages, but members are discussing what qualifications they are seeking and how the hiring process would unfold and how long it may take to implement, according to Gonzalez.
“It’s definitely not something that’s going to be instant,” Gonzalez said.
Both Gonzalez and Niro said the issue should matter to the broader student body, even those who do not see themselves directly affected.
“Regardless of whatever your citizenship is, there are folks who have been detained that were citizens,” Gonzalez said. “Even if you don’t think you’re one of the people, it could still affect you.”
Students are crucial to our community, according to Niro.
“They sit among us,” Niro said. “We look to who’s next to us in class, because they contribute so much to each of our classes that we’re in, we should care about whether or not they’re taken out of that class.”
The senate has not yet announced a timeline for a final vote or for hiring an attorney.
