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Syracuse University’s Student Association passed a bill last week condemning the Biden administration’s handling of the recent Haitian refugee crisis in Del Rio, Texas, at the U.S.-Mexico border.

The bill — which was introduced on Oct. 4 and authored by SA Vice President Darnelle Stinfort, President David Bruen and Jordan Pierre, representative from the Newhouse School of Public Communications — went through a series of revisions and amendments before ultimately passing.

A majority of SA supported the intent of the bill, Bruen said. But some members sought amendments that would more directly address the Biden administration’s actions. They believed these amendments would enact change regarding the treatment of Haitian refugees at the border instead of simply condemning it.

“We are calling for something — as a student body, as a student government, as an advocacy group — from the federal government, which is a very hard thing to do,” Bruen said. “We just wanted to make sure that everything was in the right place to do that.”

SA added letters to President Joe Biden, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas and U.S. Customs and Border Protection to the bill. They also added plans to collaborate with various student organizations at SU and student governments at other universities to make student voices on the issue more impactful.

“We thought we’d done a good job with it … We thought it would be a fairly simple process, but we realized that there were some blind spots and things that needed to be clearly said,” Bruen said. “We worked with some assembly members to make the bill even better and hopefully make it even more actionable, and I think we did that.”

Student Association Haitian… by The Daily Orange

Aden Solomon, a freshman representative in SA, noted that the bill is especially impactful because it comes from one of Biden’s alma maters. Biden graduated from SU’s College of Law in 1968.

Bruen believes Biden’s status as an SU alumnus not only had an impact on this bill but makes room for future policy advocacy on behalf of SA as well.

“Whether it’s canceling student debt, protecting international students or something like this … I do think that there is a level of increased power that we have as student advocates, as student leaders, especially compared to other student leaders and governments across the country,” Bruen said.

The passage of this bill was especially meaningful for Solomon, as it was one of his first as a member of SA. He, like Bruen, believes that this bill is representative of SU’s culture and increases SA’s ability to advocate for policies beyond SU’s campus.

“The biggest accomplishment of this bill was to create an environment in our school … that condemns injustice, condemns hate and allows for a space where everybody, no matter their status, can be accepted,” Solomon said. “And by passing a bill that is voicing our public outrage and solidarity with the Haitian immigrants, we will show our condemnation of this injustice.”

Published on October 24, 2021 at 10:08 pm

Contact Danny: ddamron@syr.edu | @dannyamron_