It’s no secret that at the beginning of the new year, through a mass deportation effort enacted by the new Trump administration, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) significantly increased their amount of immigrant arrests. ICE has the ability to make these arrests at universities, like Stockton, even within secured student housing. That said, there are several processes they must go through to enter these private areas and even then, there are still rights students hold that cannot be infringed on, regardless of citizenship status.

In spring 2017, Stockton University Student Senate passed a resolution to designated the university as a “sanctuary university” in response to similar increased deportations during the early months of President Donald Trump’s first term. This resolution included protections for undocumented students, including ensuring equal housing opportunity, providing investments in staff specifically trained to support them, and, most notably, prohibiting profiling, detention, or deportation of staff and students without a warrant or subpoena.

In the case that ICE were to appear at a student dormitory, Resident Assistants and other Residential Life staff are trained to follow the law while also protecting the privacy of students. Students are generally protected under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), which ensures no student information is released without court action or a legal requirement. ICE will never be allowed entry onto private university property without solid proof of a warrant and identification.

For more information regarding Stockton’s role in protecting undocumented citizens, a list of immigrant rights, and resources for legal counseling, visit Stockton’s Immigration Resources & Support page on their website.