In January 2025, Arizona State University junior Britney Vera scrolled past a social media post she thought seemed too outrageous to be real: A campus club was promoting an event where students could \u201creport your illegal classmates\u201d to federal immigration authorities.<\/p>\n
Organized by College Republicans United, the plan prompted Vera and her peers in Aliento at ASU \u2014 a group supporting undocumented students and those from mixed-status families \u2014 to swiftly coordinate a protest.<\/p>\n
After members of the club set up a table on campus, hundreds of students marched around them in opposition, with some holding signs that read \u201cour diversity is our power\u201d and \u201clet us learn.\u201d Vera recalled the moment as a powerful high. Within hours, though, she was deflated when ASU issued a statement defending the club\u2019s right to free speech while condemning its message.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Now a senior, Vera feels university leadership hasn\u2019t said or done much more to ease students\u2019 fears about immigration agents entering campus and targeting international and undocumented students.<\/p>\n
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After the Trump administration lifted protections that made schools off-limits to immigration enforcement, education and immigration experts say universities need clear plans for responding to potential on-campus visits from agents to minimize chaos and reassure fearful students. Though the Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting found no documented cases of Immigration and Customs Enforcement appearing on Arizona campuses as of Sept. 7, agents have shown up near universities in at least two other states so far.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEven just the rumor of ICE being on campus can be really terrifying for students, and can really prevent them from even going to the institution,\u201d Monica Andrade, director of state policy and legal strategy for the Presidents\u2019 Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, told AZCIR. \u201cThey might decide not to go to class that day. It\u2019s really disruptive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arizona\u2019s two largest public universities, ASU and the University of Arizona, have not issued instructions explicitly addressing what to do if ICE agents arrive. Neither has Central Arizona College, Cochise College, Eastern Arizona College or Grand Canyon University, AZCIR found after requesting policies or guidance about ICE on campus from the state\u2019s 20 higher education institutions with the largest in-person enrollments.<\/p>\n
Yavapai College, meanwhile, drafted an FAQ that explained student rights, safety measures and described how the school would support immigrant students. A spokesperson said the school had not shared that information publicly but did make recommendations for handling ICE visits and other emergency situations available to employees.<\/p>\n
Maricopa Community Colleges, along with Pima Community College, Arizona Western College and Northern Arizona University, have furnished more comprehensive information to students, employees or both about what to do during ICE encounters on campus.<\/p>\n
In the early months of his second term, President Donald Trump\u2019s administration has withheld funding from higher education institutions,\u00a0detained international students<\/a>, restricted schools\u2019\u00a0ability to enroll them<\/a>\u00a0and pressured schools to align with its political agenda.<\/p>\n Britney Vera, a senior and member of a mixed-status family, says Arizona State University\u2019s leadership hasn\u2019t done enough to ease student fears about immigration officials on campus.<\/p>\n Christopher Lomahquahu, AZCIR<\/p>\n Its crackdown on universities has produced a \u201cchilling effect,\u201d with colleges \u201cfirst and foremost looking out for their institutional stability,\u201d according to Katharine Meyer, a governance fellow at the Brookings Institution\u2019s Brown Center on Education Policy.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a widespread concern across universities that they might end up being the target of the next investigation from federal officials, they might be the next target to have funding frozen,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Meyer believes the current climate has made schools more hesitant about what they\u2019re willing to put in writing. When it comes to communicating with campus communities about immigration enforcement and other sensitive issues, she said, schools may be weighing \u201cthe pros and cons of federal attention versus potentially alienating students, faculty and staff.\u201d<\/p>\n Beyond taking aim at specific university policies, the Trump administration\u00a0rescinded<\/a>\u00a0Department of Homeland Security\u00a0guidelines<\/a>\u00a0shielding schools, churches and medical or mental health care facilities from enforcement actions. While ICE still cannot conduct warrantless searches in spaces with a constitutionally protected expectation of privacy, such as homes or workplaces, officials can legally make arrests in publicly accessible areas, like university courtyards.<\/p>\n The administration\u2019s actions have heightened anxiety among the state\u2019s estimated 11,000 undocumented students and nearly 28,000 international students in higher education. Advocates are also on\u00a0high alert<\/a>, particularly as the administration dedicates more resources to immigration enforcement, including funding to hire 10,000 more ICE agents.<\/p>\n \u201cOur belief is that they are ramping this up,\u201d said ACLU of Arizona border policy strategist Noah Schramm, pointing to \u201chuge\u201d investments in ICE staffing and detention capacity. \u201cIt\u2019s sort of like, that\u2019s the writing on the wall.\u201d<\/p>\n Experts told AZCIR that because ICE\u2019s authority varies by location, campus staff and students need to understand which spaces are public versus private and know their rights if officials arrive.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cICE doesn\u2019t have unlimited discretion to operate in these areas, and if there\u2019s lack of clarity on policy and what to do in certain situations, universities may be giving ICE rights that it doesn\u2019t have to give them,\u201d Schramm said.<\/p>\n ASU and UA offered scant information about their decisions not to implement new policies or guidance addressing immigration enforcement on campus.<\/p>\n ASU, which has about 78,000 students on campus, has not fulfilled a July 23 public records request seeking copies of such communications. Asked if any guidance had been shared with students or staff, media relations director Veronica Sanchez said no agents had been on campus and that, if they were to visit, \u201cwe would expect them to connect in advance with ASU Police.\u201d<\/p>\n Sanchez repeatedly sidestepped questions about whether the school had an ICE-specific policy and if students, faculty and staff had been informed of one, saying only that the university would work with ICE in \u201cthe same way we would work with any law enforcement personnel that came onto our campuses.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Vera said the school\u2019s handling of AZCIR\u2019s inquiries made her \u201canxious\u201d to return to ASU this fall. As a member of a mixed-status family, she\u2019d hoped university leadership would at least give \u201ca simple acknowledgement that they\u2019re aware of what\u2019s going on.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt kind of just feels like, \u2018Oh, we had a break, a little three-month break, but now we\u2019re back to the reality of our education being able to be taken away,\u2019\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Emily Sotelo Estrada, another ASU senior who has worked with undocumented classmates through Aliento, told AZCIR she recognizes her university is in a difficult position with the current administration. But she worries about the many \u201cgray areas\u201d where students and faculty don\u2019t know what law enforcement can and cannot do.<\/p>\n Students and staff need to be prepared in order to protect everyone\u2019s safety, Sotelo Estrada said\u2014including that of any immigration officers who may show up on campus.<\/p>\n United Campus Workers of Arizona, which represents staff at the state\u2019s three largest public universities, called on UA and ASU leaders to \u201cdo more and say more against these federal attacks\u201d on students. One of their main duties, UCW-Arizona acting president Marcos Esparza said, should be ensuring students can work and study \u201cwithout feeling they\u2019re going to be deported or have to leave the country immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n UA, which has nearly 42,000 students in Tucson, told AZCIR it did \u201cnot possess any responsive records\u201d regarding policies for handling immigration officials on campus. When asked about the lack of direction, university spokesperson Mitch Zak pointed to 2019 guidance on interacting with non-university law enforcement.<\/p>\n Zak insisted that guidance was \u201cclear,\u201d applied to federal immigration officials and was \u201cdesigned to ensure that faculty and staff are aware, prepared, and supported should they encounter such situations.\u201d Yet it makes no explicit mention of immigration authorities, and Zak acknowledged it is \u201cnot specific to any agency.\u201d<\/p>\n The information, posted to a UA\u00a0webpage<\/a>\u00a0on the \u201cfederal landscape,\u201d directs employees to cooperate with officers, notify UA Police and \u201cnot physically block or interfere with (officers\u2019) entry or actions.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n