SFSU program offers courses promoting ‘undocumented studies,’ border resistance

San Francisco State University (SFSU) is offering multiple courses this semester through its Race and Resistance Studies (RRS) program that center on illegal immigration and border politics.

One course, Undocumented Studies, examines “undocumented immigration from the perspectives of undocumented scholars and artists” and explores “what resistance looks like in scholarship and art by undocumented people.” Students also study the “cultural production of ‘undocupoetics,’” a term describing creative work by illegal immigrant artists theorizing their own lives.

Another offering, Race and Sexual Migration, emphasizes “the movement of individuals and ideas between regions with both official and unofficial borders” and reviews recent scholarship on “race, sexuality, and (im)migration.”

[RELATED: Public CA universities shell out $42M for illegal alien legal assistance]

The department also includes Comparative Border Studies: Palestine and Mexico, which examines “the walls that U.S. and Israeli government are building” and their impact on “displacing marginalized communities.”

Meanwhile, Beyond Bars and Borders: Race and the Carceral State discusses “how diverse communities of color have experienced and struggled against racialized regimes of incarceration and displacement,” with a focus on “controlling the movement (or lack thereof) of communities of color.”

According to its program mission, Race and Resistance Studies seeks to “nurture a social consciousness” in students and instill “a foundation of knowledge related to the multiple histories and cultures of communities of color… through a comparative, relational, interdisciplinary and intersectional approach.”

[RELATED: Over 35 colleges enforce ‘Sanctuary Campus’ policies, refuse to cooperate with ICE]

SFSU openly states that it supports “undocumented student populations” and students in “mixed status homes.” The university provides free legal counsel for illegal immigrant students as well as a Know Your Rights Red card. 

The trend is not isolated to SFSU. East Los Angeles College operates an Undocu-Huskies club, which claims that “all people have the right to learn and pursue their dreams regardless of immigration status.” 

Similar “Undocu-” groups are active at Fullerton College, El Camino College, and the University of California, Berkeley.

Campus Reform has reached out to San Francisco State University for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.