{"id":398,"date":"2026-02-02T00:05:55","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T00:05:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/nccivilrightslaw\/?p=398"},"modified":"2026-02-02T00:05:55","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T00:05:55","slug":"ice-on-campuses-student-resilience-in-the-face-of-detainment-and-deportation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/nccivilrightslaw\/2026\/02\/ice-on-campuses-student-resilience-in-the-face-of-detainment-and-deportation\/","title":{"rendered":"ICE on Campuses: Student Resilience in the Face of Detainment and Deportation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Change<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After Donald Trump\u2019s 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\u2019s 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 \u201csensitive locations<\/a>\u201d where officers were generally required to \u201cget approval for any enforcement operations.\u201d Sensitive locations were defined as locations that would \u201crestrain people\u2019s access to essential services or engagement in essential activities<\/a>.\u201d 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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Spark<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response to these demonstrations, Trump passed an executive order<\/a> in January 2025 to \u201ccombat the explosion of anti-Semitism on our campuses and streets.\u201d The executive order promises<\/a> to \u201cprotect law and order, quell pro-Hamas vandalism and intimidation, and investigate and punish anti-Jewish racism in leftist, anti-American colleges and universities.\u201d It also pledges to \u201cdemand[] the removal of resident aliens who violate our laws.\u201d In a message targeting \u201call resident aliens who joined in pro-jihadist protests,\u201d Trump threatened to \u201cquickly cancel the student visas of all Hamas sympathizers on college campuses, which have been infested with radicalism like never before.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This focus by the Trump administration on student protestors coupled with the revocation of the \u201csensitive locations\u201d guidance led to the detainment and deportation of several students at elite universities. Among the students targeted are Mahmoud Khalil and Rumeysa Ozturk. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Students<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mahmoud Khalil<\/a>, having graduated with a master\u2019s degree from Columbia University\u2019s 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<\/a>, 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<\/a> between Columbia\u2019s school officials and pro-Palestine students. Baseless claims from the government alleging that Khalil distributed \u201cpro-Hamas propaganda fliers\u201d and that his mere presence posed \u201cpotentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences\u201d 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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rumeysa Ozturk<\/a> garnered media attention after a video of her arrest outside of her home in Boston by ICE agents in plain clothes was released. Ozturk\u2014a Ph.D. student at Tufts University, a Fulbright scholar, and a holder of a valid F-1 visa\u2014published 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\u2019s 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.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Aftermath<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2019s 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<\/a> to leave their homes and complete day-to-day activities like grocery shopping.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/a> 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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/a> detailing the potential for university liability in immigration proceedings as a way to fight back against the encroachment of ICE on campuses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Legal scholars and judges are also putting themselves in the ring.\u00a0Judge William Young<\/a>, a federal district court judge in Massachusetts,\u00a0highlighted his frustrations and concerns with the Trump administration\u2019s immigration policy and their stifling of student voices\u00a0in his opinion released in early October. This reverberating backlash from people in all sectors reflects an obvious\u00a0distaste of the approach this administration has taken against those they disagree with.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amy Estrada<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Class of 2027, Staff Member<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Change  After Donald Trump\u2019s 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\u2019s 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 …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/nccivilrightslaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/nccivilrightslaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/nccivilrightslaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/nccivilrightslaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/nccivilrightslaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=398"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/nccivilrightslaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":399,"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/nccivilrightslaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398\/revisions\/399"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/nccivilrightslaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=398"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/nccivilrightslaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=398"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/nccivilrightslaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=398"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}