ICE on Campus: Students Express Concern

By Brenna Tichy

With ICE making appearances at college career fairs and recent arrests on campuses across the country, students and staff connected to UMD are wondering: what happens if ICE comes to College Park?

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a federal agency, has drawn sharp scrutiny in recent months following its record-high arrests. With increased national attention on ICE and how colleges are responding to its changes, students and staff are left with many questions and a growing sense of unease.

“We definitely need some more information or training in order to handle [ICE],” sophomore pre-vet major and resident assistant, Bralynn Davis, said. “Based on social media depictions of ICE agents, I don’t think just telling them to ‘leave the building’ is enough.”

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, Badar Khan Suri and Mohsen Mahdawi are just a few of the thousands of people taken into ICE’s custody following Trump’s ascension into office. 

Garcia, a Prince George’s County local, was illegally deported to an El Salvadorian prison on March 15. Two days later, Suri, a postdoctoral fellow and professor at Georgetown University, was taken by ICE  on the pretense that he was spreading Hamas propaganda despite public outcry from faculty and students. On April 14, Mahdawi, a Palestinian student at Columbia University, was detained by ICE for organizing pro-Palestine rallies. 

Cases like these have instilled fear around campus about ICE’s unpredictable nature. 

“I think people are scared,” Isabella Velez, a freshman bioengineering major, U.S. Latina/o Studies minor, and daughter of a Colombian immigrant, said. “People who would be affected by it are scared of what’s happening, and just the fact that [UMD] was bringing ICE in for the career fair, people were upset about that.”

Under the Trump administration, ICE’s powers have expanded, allowing it to approach individuals without prior evidence of criminal activity. In response to safety concerns, the UMD Anti-Imperialist Movement launched a campaign imploring students to sign a petition calling on the university to uninvite ICE from the Spring 2025 career fair, resulting in ICE’s withdrawal.  

As tensions around immigration enforcement grow, many students are asking what they should do if ICE comes to campus. Immigration Legal Resource Center (ILRC) created a “Red Card” outlining key rights to remember if someone is stopped by ICE or border control. 

The card highlights four main points: do not open the door, do not answer any questions, do not sign anything and hand the card to the agent, which cites constitutional rights on the back. 

“Our professor handed out the ‘know your rights red cards’ in class,” Velez said.  “I think that it was really important that it was in Spanish on the back so people who don’t speak English could know [their rights].”

The UMD administration has a page dedicated to immigration news and updates. 

On April 7, the President’s Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration released an FAQ listing out the concerns of international students and campus stakeholders in light of major developments in the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP), specifically the termination of SEVIS records. The FAQ’s goal was to help clarify how these changes could affect student visa holders and outline steps institutions can take to support affected students.

While ICE may seem far from College Park, for many, the possibility feels real. 

“I think it’s very important to know what to do in case of an emergency,” Davis said.

• ice
• immigration
• safety