By Nick Buxton
UC Davis Chancellor Gary May has joined the chorus of voices rightly condemning the separation of children from parents seeking asylum in the US. In a public statement on June 19, he condemned the “heart-wrenching political tactics” affecting refugees and voiced his support for DACA students. These are important statements, but they would be even more powerful if he took action to back up those values, which in this case he could easily do by stepping down from his position on the board of one of the leading corporations involved in the inhumane border regime.
According to Sacramento Bee, May earned $288,280 in cash and stock in 2015 as a member of the board of Leidos, a Virginia-based defense and technology company. Leidos is an important supplier of surveillance equipment to the Department for Homeland Security Border guards, boasting of supplying 70 programs worth $200 million in the last five years. The company has expanded significantly in recent years and its CEO has boasted to investors of how it is benefiting from Trump’s agenda.
When Chancellor May arrived at UC Davis, there was already public concern at his paid board positions that together meant he would receive $$325,780 in addition to his annual salary of $495,000. His predecessor Linda Katehi was forced to resign in part because of concerns over conflicts of interest from her lucrative board positions in publishing and educational companies that profited from students. But May insisted the positions would bring wider benefits to students, and the UC Regents did not block him. Meanwhile students protesting this along with fee hikes and increasing financialisation of the university were put on probation and threatened with suspension.
Yet not only is there no evidence of any benefits for UC Davis students (compared to the massive financial benefits for May), by being part of the board of Leidos, May is actively supporting a border regime that in its latest incarnation is separating children from parents. But while these latest actions are particularly egregious, the pattern of abuse is much more systematic and long-term. The US runs a border police force that kills with impunity, has forced desperate refugees into deadly treks across inhospitable terrain, and led vast swathes of US to become constitution-free zones where normal civil liberties are suspended. This is not to say that Leidos is directly involved in child detention or in any of the specific abuses mentioned, but its technology helps underpin what has become a ‘border industrial complex’ responsible for these systematic human rights abuses.
Leidos is one of the many defense firms worldwide which has both encouraged a militarised approach to refugees and is now reaping massive financial rewards. The people who suffer the consequences are refugees who are being turned into victims or criminals rather than given the support they need. None of this sits with UC Davis supposed mission of “solving problems related to food, health, the environment and society”. By remaining on the board of Leidos, May is part of the apparatus that is now tearing children away from their parents. He is part of the problem, not the solution.
More information:
“Leidos, Infosys, and CACI International, among the largest defense contractors in the U.S., have told investors in recent days that they are poised to take advantage of Trump’s immigration policies.”
https://theintercept.com/2016/12/06/defense-companies-trump/
“Leidos juggernaut ready for Trump’s immigration, veteran’s health and NASA agenda “
“Leidos CEO Roger Krone told investors Thursday at Cowen and Co.’s 38th Annual Aerospace/Defense & Industrials Conference in New York City that President Donald Trump's priorities align well with the $10 billion Leidos.”
https://www.bizjournals.com/washington/news/2017/02/10/leidos-juggernaut-ready-for-trump-s-immigration.html
DHS United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement awards $7.8m contract to Leidos, Inc. for translation services
https://govtribe.com/contract/idv/gs10f0308u-hscemd12a00005
“Department of Homeland Security awards Leidos $34 million”
https://insights.leidos.com/homeland-transportation-security/department-of-homeland-security-awards-leidos-34-million-task-order
Leidos Integrated Wide Area Surveillance System (IWASS)
https://www.leidos.com/products/security/iwass
Leidos “Air, Land and Sea: Securing Borders Through Biometrics”
https://insights.leidos.com/infographics/air-land-and-sea-securing-borders-through-biometrics?_ga=2.51225707.372099870.1529498938-726524453.1529498938
“Leidos Secures Potential $684M Task Order to Help Operate, Maintain DHS Networks”
https://www.govconwire.com/2017/09/leidos-secures-potential-684m-task-order-to-help-operate-maintain-dhs-networks/
“Leidos receives $66 mln order from DHS for scanning systems for CBP ports of entry”
https://homelandprepnews.com/featured/20342-leidos-receives-66-mln-order-dhs-scanning-systems-cbp-ports-entry/
“Leidos reports $395M DHS cyber contract win”
https://washingtontechnology.com/articles/2017/04/05/leidos-dhs-contract-update.aspx
Nick Buxton is a Davis resident, father and editor of the book 'The Secure and the Dispossessed: How the Military and Corporations are shaping a Climate-Changed world" (University of Chicago, 2015)'
Read UCD's Response
Nick Buxton's reply to UCD
June 23
Chancellor May, Leidos, and the Border Regime
Davisite 
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