On President Donald Trump's second day in office, he rescinded a Biden-era rule barring Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from making arrests near "sensitive locations," including colleges and universities.
Now, higher education leaders in Wisconsin and elsewhere are bracing for the possibility. According to the Higher Ed Immigration Portal, nearly 16,000 international students are enrolled at Wisconsin schools.
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, said campuses are seeing a chilling effect due to hostilities toward international community members.
"Higher education should be the bastion of free ideas and academic freedom," Weingarten contended. "Because how do you create new things? How do you innovate? How do you imagine, if you don't actually create academic freedom?"
There are also more than 50,000 first- and second-generation college students in Wisconsin. Weingarten emphasized the goal is to work for "safe, welcoming campus communities with opportunity and dignity for all."
An institution's approach to making things "safe and welcoming" may change as ICE is allowed on campus.
Tanya Broder, senior counsel on health and economic justice policy at the National Immigration Law Center, pointed out immigration agents can only legally enter public, not private, areas of campus without a warrant.
"It's very helpful to plan in advance when you can," Broder urged. "To have a real procedure for when people are showing up and trying to enter someplace where you have a reasonable expectation of privacy."
Broder suggested establishing and communicating campus policies and protocols for encountering ICE. She added schools should designate staff to review judicial warrants for validity.
The American Federation of Teachers is advising schools to provide legal and mental health support for people who may be affected, offer "know your rights" training, reaffirm student data and privacy protections and issue public statements of support.
Haddy Gassama, director of policy and advocacy for the nonprofit UndocuBlack Network, spoke to higher education leaders on a recent webinar.
"I implore us to leverage the power that you have in ensuring that, one, it's communicated that you are protective of your students and, two, to go outside of the campus and be advocates," Gassama stressed.
