100 signatures reached
To: University Presidents and Trustees
Defend Campus Freedom: Tell University Presidents to Reject ICE Agreements
An Open Letter from Alumni to University Presidents and Trustees:
We, alumni from across the nation, urge college and university presidents to stand against unwarranted ICE enforcement and ensure that campuses remain safe environments to learn, teach, and work.
ICE’s deadly actions in Minneapolis and elsewhere have intensified fear and uncertainty for students, faculty, and staff of all backgrounds, especially international and immigrant students and scholars. Recent federal policy changes have lowered longstanding barriers to immigration enforcement at schools, and some colleges and universities have already begun cooperating with ICE.
In this crucial moment, university leaders must make clear that their institutions will not serve as extensions of federal immigration enforcement.
College and university presidents have both the authority and the responsibility to draw firm boundaries that protect academic freedom, free expression, and the trust that makes campus life possible. We urge them to make the following commitments:
- Reject ICE cooperation agreements
Publicly affirm that your institution will not enter into, renew, or expand cooperation agreements with ICE that enlist campus police or university personnel in immigration enforcement activities. This includes refusing agreements that deputize campus police to carry out federal immigration enforcement. - Establish and enforce strict limits on interaction with ICE
Clearly communicate that campus police and university staff are not to assist with immigration enforcement and/or provide or facilitate unwarranted access to campus; designate a single point of contact for any agency inquiry; and provide training to ensure these boundaries are understood and upheld. - Safeguard academic freedom, free expression, and privacy
Protect the right to study, teach, research, and engage in constitutionally protected speech and activism without fear of surveillance or retaliation. Do not provide names, lists, or access to nonpublic spaces or private records of international/immigrant students, faculty, and staff unless legally required through proper judicial process, such as a warrant signed by a judge.
By drawing and enforcing clear institutional boundaries now, college and university presidents can protect academic freedom, uphold the independence of higher education, and reaffirm that campuses are places of learning, inquiry, and free expression – not instruments of federal policing.
Why is this important?
As Americans reel from the shocking news out of Minneapolis, college and university presidents are deciding whether and how their institutions will collaborate with ICE. For alumni, it is a stark reminder of why schools must proactively guard institutional independence.
That’s why Stand for Campus Freedom is launching this urgent petition from alumni to university presidents to reject ICE cooperation agreements and defend campus freedom. The sooner you can sign and share, the stronger the signal will be from alumni to university leaders across America:
https://bit.ly/reject-ice
That’s why Stand for Campus Freedom is launching this urgent petition from alumni to university presidents to reject ICE cooperation agreements and defend campus freedom. The sooner you can sign and share, the stronger the signal will be from alumni to university leaders across America:
https://bit.ly/reject-ice
Stand for Campus Freedom unites alumni across generations, geographies, and viewpoints to protect academic freedom and stand up for democracy. Together, we are building a national movement that holds universities accountable to their highest ideals, resists political coercion, and strengthens America’s leadership on the world stage. SCF is a project of Democracy House, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization that integrates the focus and practice of democracy into college and university life.