It was Career Day on March 19, 2019 at the University of Arizona and one of the departments, the Criminal Justice Association, had invited some local Border Patrol Agents to speak to their group. As the agents were giving their talk, Denisse Moreno Melchor started using her smart phone to capture live video and stand in the doorway and chant at the officers and other students in the class room. Eventually it would appear, the Border Patrol agents decided to leave and walked out of the classroom. Denisse videoed, live-streamed, their progress as they made their way to their car.
She accused the Criminal Justice club of violating her safe space. Yet it appears she is also guilty of this type of action. She also used a number of “Trigger Words” in her dialogue.
It will be interesting to follow her life over the next few years to see how she changes with hopefully, growing maturity.
The following video, taken by Denisse, is pretty graphic. A timeline of the video follows:
- 0:05 – She describes seeing the Murder Patrol
- 0:13 – She states she pays to be here, at the university.
- 0:27 – One of the Agents glances at her
- 0:32 – She states this is supposed to be a “Safe Place” for students.
- 0:35 – She basically calls the agents and/or students, an extension of the KKK.
- 1:40 – One student offers to let her sit in.
- 2:05 – She taunts the student by caller her a white woman. Can you imagine if it was an Asian student calling a Black person calling the police.
- 2:29 – The agents start to leave and Denisse starts chanting “Murder Patrol” hundreds of times.
- 3:09 – Denisse friends chime in with “Murder Patrol” chants.
- 3:57 – Denisse switches to Spanish and gets very emotional.
- 4:04 – The agents get in their car and begin to leave.
The video on the left is what was Live streamed as she walked the halls and courtyard of the schools.
Thank goodness she lives in America. Try this in China.
According to an article in the Arizona Daily Independent, her Twitter Feed has disdain for “white people,” “white people who use their LGBTQ+ identities to overstep,” “cops,” “ICE,” and the “government.”
It’s common for some folks to dislike “cops”, “ICE”, and the “government”, but taking on the LGBTQ community is not going to get her far.
Clearly Denisse is violating the rights of the member of the Criminal Justice Association here. But what, if anything, will the University do about this? The student body, all of whose members have very temporary positions, they graduate, hopefully, have stated the Border Patrol should avoid the campus.
American University's losing their Free Speech Mantra?
On Thursday, March 21st, a few days later, President Donald Trump signed an executive order stating that Universities, in order to receive Federal research funds, needed to protect free speech. “Under the guise of speech codes, and safe spaces, and trigger warnings, these universities have tried to restrict free thought, impose total conformity and shut down the voices of great young Americans,” Trump said at the signing ceremony.
Somehow I think the University of Arizona needs to review their policy on 1st Amendment rights, for everybody.
Other schools such as UC Berkely have also had free speech issues.
Border Patrol Interview by KFYI's James T. Harris
In the Arizona Daily Report article described above, Art del Cueto, vice president of the National Border Patrol Council and President of Local 2544 said he “was pretty upset when I saw the video myself. I have learned that these agents were invited to help explain things about the criminal justice system. People need to understand that they were invited there,” said del Cueto with emphasis. “It was an actual invitation”.
When asked by Harris, the interviewer, if DACA students should fear Border Patrol, del Cueto responded, “That is what is the funniest thing. Perhaps if these individuals, who wrote this letter, would have allowed Border Patrol agents to remain there and talk to the class and answer questions – their fears would have subsided. They might have learned something instead of writing an ignorant letter where it says that they fear for the DACA students. Well we can’t arrest the DACA students as agents. We can’t send them back unless obviously they commit some kind of crime other than being here illegally. They are a protected class right now so it is ridiculous.”
University if Arizona Discussions
Abra McAndrew, Assistant Vice Provost with Student Engagement, in an article from the school newspaper, said the career days Border Patrol attended are open to any employer in Tucson. McAndrew also stated all students can look at who is attending the Career Fair on the Handshake website.
However, At-Large Senator Rocque Perez said Associated Students of Univ of Arizona (ASUA) today is a completely different administration from 2017 and this issue has been considered multiple times. Perez intends to introduce new legislation to ASUA next week. The ASUA changes yearly as students move thru in 4 or more years.
On Thursday, March 21, ASUA Student Body President Natalynn Masters issued a statement stressing “the importance of notifying students … in advance of visits by USBP” and stating that ASUA has an responsibility to “protect, support and speak out for all Wildcats” including DACA students and undocumented students.
An article appearing in the school newspaper, on April 5, 2018, described the regents as getting officially named as a Hispanic Serving Institution. The article stated with this new, the UA will now have access to a plethora of new government grants and funding opportunities.
Safe Places, Trigger Warnings, & Racism
College campuses have been in a tussle over the past few years as they have created segregated “safe spaces” to allow like people to quarantine themselves. Denisse, in this case, didn’t consider the notion that the room was the Criminal Justice majors “safe space”. She considers the Border Patrol visit to her University, that she paid for, a “Trigger Warning“. Traditionally the goal of a University is to provide a place for collaborative engagement. The University of Arizona does not meet this standard.