Transylvania University Student Targeted By Fellow Student For Deportation

A college senior in Kentucky was targeted on Facebook by a fellow student for deportation. The student, an undocumented citizen and recipient of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), began seeking help Sunday from individuals through YouTube after her university allegedly did nothing to help.

Paola Garcia, 21, who attends Transylvania University (TU) in Lexington, Kentucky, claimed the college didn't attempt to help her when she reported the incident. Officials allegedly believed the post, which was published by student Taylor Ragg in late August, doesn't violate TU's nondiscrimination policy.

"Everyone go report this illegal at my school bragging about breaking the law," Ragg said in a Facebook post.

The post was published in a racial hate group on Facebook called the Tenth Crusade Enthusiasts. Garcia claims she's received numerous threats on social media from members of the group, which allegedly included pictures of a group member filling out an illegal immigrant tip form to Homeland Security.

Facebook reportedly removed the group.

"The group you flagged does violate our policies and has since been removed from the platform," Ruchika Budhraja, a Facebook media representative, told IBT Thursday. "Our policies against hate orgs and hate speech are longstanding and explicit – we don’t want Facebook to be a platform for hate and will remove content that violates as soon as we become aware of it."

Garcia published a six-minute video about the incident. The video has attracted more than 6,000 views, nearly 60 comments and likes. Garcia claims she's dealt with "racism, discrimination, threats, name-calling...blatant ignorance."

"I took screenshots of everything and I reported it to the administration," Garcia said in the YouTube post. "According to [school officials, Ragg's] activities don’t violate the school's nondiscrimination policy. If you read it, it's obvious that he did. It just doesn’t make sense to me how that was their conclusion.

"Their reasoning was 'Mr.Ragg reposted your comment with a recommendation to readers about how to respond to it,'" Garcia continued. "[They're] talking about my [Facebook] bio, which said: 'undocumented, unapologetic and unafraid.'"

TU's nondiscrimination policy does technically protect the activity Garcia experienced from Raggs. Harassment and racial discrimination, which Garcia allegedly encountered on Facebook, are the first two aspects listed in the college's policy.

"Transylvania University is committed to ensuring that the institution is free of harassment and discrimination on the basis of race, color, citizenship status, sex, age, disability, pregnancy, creed, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, national or ethnic origin, religion or religious belief or veteran's status," the university's policy reads.

"Consistent with this policy, the University does not tolerate discrimination or harassment of employees, students or other individuals associated with the University.

"Derogatory racial, ethnic, religious, ageist, sexual or other inappropriate remarks, slurs or jokes will not be tolerated. This policy applies to all faculty, staff, administration, supervisors, employees, students, applicants, volunteers and visitors to campus."

The university claims it doesn't condone or tolerate any form of harassment.

"Transylvania University does not condone or tolerate hatred, bigotry, bullying or harassment in any form and will address any such behavior in a manner consistent with our policies, procedures, and values as a University," a TU representative said in a statement issued to International Business Times Wednesday.

"We value every member of this community on the basis of their humanity, not on the basis of their ethnicity, race, religion, gender, sexual orientation or legal status. We are aware of the situation that has occurred on social media and are investigating the matter very seriously."

Garcia's incident comes on the heels of President Donald Trump's decision to end DACA. Ending DACA, an immigration policy created by the Obama's administration, would kick start the removal of undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children. Politicians have reportedly debated on what to do with the DREAMers for more than 15 years.

"We will resolve the DACA issue with heart and compassion — but through the lawful Democratic process — while at the same time ensuring that any immigration reform we adopt provides enduring benefits for the American citizens we were elected to serve," Trump told reporters Sept. 5.

"We must also have heart and compassion for unemployed, struggling and forgotten Americans."