Law enforcement

Appalachian Police are dedicated to ensuring a safe and welcoming environment for all members of our university community. We value and welcome the contributions that are brought to Appalachian State University by members of our international population.

Appalachian Police do not divert from this mission in order to enforce federal immigration laws. Appalachian Police officers will not contact, detain, question or arrest an individual solely on the basis of suspected undocumented immigration status or to discover the immigration status of any individual

Nonetheless, where federal law enforcement agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) or Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) have reason to pursue criminal suspects on campus, Appalachian Police may cooperate with those efforts to enforce criminal laws. Should U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers conduct immigration enforcement activities on campus, Appalachian Police may be called in to prevent injuries or property damage.

International students and scholars are subject to different requirements. Universities are required to exchange data with federal immigration agencies on the status of international students on F-1, J-1 or M visas through use of a government database named SEVIS, which is part of the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP). In some cases, Appalachian Police are required to report the arrest of any non-U.S. citizen to their home country consulate. In other cases, consulate notification is required only upon the request of the person arrested. More information about consular notification is available here.

According to the Department of Education, the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) permits institutions to comply with information requests from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in order to comply with the requirements of SEVP. However, this does not create a blanket waiver of an international student’s FERPA rights; the information that can be disclosed is limited to the categories listed in DHS regulations, and a request must be made to a campus Designated School Official (DSO). Other information about international students is entitled to the same FERPA protection that otherwise governs student records. You can find more information about FERPA here.