Janet Napolitano’s approval as the new president of the University California school system has generated heated protests, leading to the arrests of several students who were forcibly removed for voicing their opinion at a regents meeting.
Protesters on Thursday disrupted a regents meeting
at the UC San Francisco campus, where the former Homeland
Security secretary was confirmed as the new UC president.
At least six protesters were handcuffed with zip ties and
forcibly removed by police after refusing to leave the meeting
room. Dozens of others interrupted the meeting by shouting out
their concerns, but left the room on their own.
“Undocumented is not a crime!” some of the protesters
shouted at Napolitano as they were handcuffed and led away by
police.
“Shame! Shame! Shame!” some of the others yelled during
the meeting.
Outside the room, the students discussed their concerns about
Napolitano’s new role with the media. They noted that she has no
background in education and that she was responsible for
immigrant deportations carried out by the Immigration and Customs
Enforcement under the “Secure
Communities” program.
UC schools are celebrated for their track record of helping
undocumented students obtain a college education, and
Napolitano’s involvement in the deportations goes against some of
the students’ beliefs.
“My family is undocumented and Janet Napolitano has been an
enemy of undocumented immigrants in this country,” UC
Berkeley student Rosa Hernandez told CBS News. “It makes
me upset that my tuition will be paying her wages now as UC
president.”
Hernandez told NBC that Napolitano has left her family
terrorized, and also lacks the necessary background to head an
education system.
She “isn’t qualified at al to be UC president, her background
is in law and immigration enforcement,” Hernandez said.
“It worries me as an undocumented student to have a UC
president who has put terror into my family.”
But despite the protests, the UC Board of Regents voted 25-1 to
approve Napolitano as president of the school system, making her
the first female head of the UC. The only vote against her
appointment was cast by student Regent Cinthia Flores, who
represented the views of the protesters.
Flores, a third-year law student, told Patch.com that
Napolitano’s past involvement in deportations will “cast a
long shadow on her future endeavors” and is out of line with
the university’s commitment to diversity.
“I grew up in an immigrant household, in an immigrant
community,” Flores told the AP. “I can tell you the fear
is real.”
Jen Low, a UC Santa Cruz alumna, told Patch.com that “it is
unjust for [Napolitano] to be the next president of our treasured
public university.”
But with a nearly unanimous vote for her approval, Napolitano
will now assume oversight of the 10 UC campuses with a base
salary of $570,000 per year. She will also receive a relocation
fee of $142,500 and an annual auto allowance of $8,916.
The former Homeland Security secretary resigned from her federal
role on July 12.
Republished with permission from: RT