ICE on Campuses: Student Resilience in the Face of Detainment and Deportation

The Change 

After Donald Trump’s re-election in 2024, his administration worked to make good on their promise to head the largest deportation operation in American history. Mere hours after Trump’s inauguration, Trump officials revoked a policy which limited the areas in which Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection could apprehend migrants. This policy created what is known as “sensitive locations” where officers were generally required to “get approval for any enforcement operations.” Sensitive locations were defined as locations that would “restrain people’s access to essential services or engagement in essential activities.” Protected sensitive locations included schools, places of worship, hospitals, shelters, relief centers, and public demonstrations. Without this limitation, ICE agents have free rein to apprehend migrants in all public areas. 

The Spark 

Following the attack on Israel in 2023 by terrorist organization Hamas, the war in the Gaza Strip has drawn international attention. In 2024, universities across the United States received media attention after being the backdrop for student-led demonstrations asking their universities to divest from Israel. 

In response to these demonstrations, Trump passed an executive order in January 2025 to “combat the explosion of anti-Semitism on our campuses and streets.” The executive order promises to “protect law and order, quell pro-Hamas vandalism and intimidation, and investigate and punish anti-Jewish racism in leftist, anti-American colleges and universities.” It also pledges to “demand[] the removal of resident aliens who violate our laws.” In a message targeting “all resident aliens who joined in pro-jihadist protests,” Trump threatened to “quickly cancel the student visas of all Hamas sympathizers on college campuses, which have been infested with radicalism like never before.” 

This focus by the Trump administration on student protestors coupled with the revocation of the “sensitive locations” guidance led to the detainment and deportation of several students at elite universities. Among the students targeted are Mahmoud Khalil and Rumeysa Ozturk. 

The Students 

Mahmoud Khalil, having graduated with a master’s degree from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, was a legal permanent resident and green card holder when he was arrested at his student apartment building. Columbia University, where students held tent encampments and occupied university buildings to protest the war in Palestine, was at the forefront of student demonstrations in 2024. As a child of Palestinian refugees, Khalil served as a negotiator between Columbia’s school officials and pro-Palestine students. Baseless claims from the government alleging that Khalil distributed “pro-Hamas propaganda fliers” and that his mere presence posed “potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences” led to his eventual arrest in March. Khalil was held in an ICE detention facility in Louisiana until a federal district judge held that the justifications for detaining students like Khalil were unconstitutional and insufficient to detain or deport them. The judge then ordered Khalil to be released on bail. 

Rumeysa Ozturk garnered media attention after a video of her arrest outside of her home in Boston by ICE agents in plain clothes was released. Ozturk—a Ph.D. student at Tufts University, a Fulbright scholar, and a holder of a valid F-1 visa—published an op-ed in the student newspaper, The Tufts Daily, asking the university to divest from companies with ties to Israel. Despite the fact that Tufts University’s President Sunil Kumar released a statement in support of Ozturk, Ozturk was sent to an ICE processing center in Louisiana. In March, a federal judge in Boston ruled that Ozturk could not be deported until he has made the determination of whether the court has jurisdiction over her case.  

The Aftermath 

The detainment and deportation of students are felt by fellow students everywhere. While being a permanent resident once may have felt like a comfort, that armor has been stripped away. The fear of losing one’s residency or visas has led to hesitation to speak out against the federal government or to lend their public support to Palestine. Students who have been vocal about politics report being afraid to leave their homes and complete day-to-day activities like grocery shopping.  

However, all hope is not lost. While some students have taken the recent deportations as a reason to take a step back, other students are now more empowered than ever to lend their voices to the cause. While fear remains palpable, the persistence of students to have their voices heard is commendable. Even now, with so much at stake, students are willing to risk it all in support of Palestine, even if their activism may lead to their eventual detainment. 

Students are joined by activist organizations and educational institutions too. Universities have released statements refusing to comply with ICE and detailing what areas are private and thus not subject to ICE intervention. Organizations have worked to distribute Know Your Rights materials for individuals and have published open letters detailing the potential for university liability in immigration proceedings as a way to fight back against the encroachment of ICE on campuses. 

Legal scholars and judges are also putting themselves in the ring. Judge William Young, a federal district court judge in Massachusetts, highlighted his frustrations and concerns with the Trump administration’s immigration policy and their stifling of student voices in his opinion released in early October. This reverberating backlash from people in all sectors reflects an obvious distaste of the approach this administration has taken against those they disagree with. 

Amy Estrada

Class of 2027, Staff Member