Maryland students demand ‘sanctuary campus’ for migrants

The University of Maryland student government has called on administrators to declare College Park a “sanctuary campus” for illegal immigrants who fear the Trump administration deporting them.

The Student Government Association voted 19-0-1 this month to demand that officials and police at the flagship state school disavow any collaboration with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The bill notes that ICE agents have recently “carried out arrests” in the Maryland suburbs bordering the District of Columbia, sparking “heightened fear and uncertainty among immigrant residents.”

The student legislature further urges administrators to launch an alert system “to notify students of ICE actions on or nearby campus” and formally bar federal agents from nonpublic spaces without a search warrant.

“This vote reflects the legislature’s continued engagement with humanitarian issues around the globe,” Louis Mancuso, SGA chief of staff and a sophomore accounting major, said Thursday. “This session alone, the legislature has shown an interest in urging the university to publicly acknowledge its commitment to peace and human rights in all forms.”

He noted that the bill follows similar resolutions urging the university in recent months to divest itself from U.S. defense contractors and other corporate donors accused of fostering “genocide in Gaza.”

The largely symbolic document complains that the university removed its Immigrant and Undocumented Student Life webpages “without formal announcement or explanation” in August 2024, provided information to federal officials on “Chinese international students” last spring and has “not publicly articulated a clear policy” to protect illegal students.

In an emailed statement, a University of Maryland spokeswoman rejected any obligation to act on student government recommendations.

“Resolutions voted on by the Student Government Association are student-led and reflect perspectives of voting members of the SGA,” said Rebecca Aloisi, senior director of university communications. “They have no bearing on university policy or practice.”

The Washington Times has reached out to ICE for comment.

Student-led efforts to declare the University of Maryland a sanctuary campus date back to January 2017, when then-President Wallace Loh rejected a list of demands to resist the first Trump administration.

In a letter to the campus community posted by the student-run Diamondback newspaper, Mr. Loh called the idea of a sanctuary campus and other proposals “unlawful, or impractical, or unnecessary.”

Darryll J. Pines, the university’s current president, has remained silent on the topic.

This month’s bill states that other universities have declared themselves “sanctuary campuses,” limiting their cooperation with federal law enforcement officers.

It also points to a recent campus petition signed by over 2,900 people to support adding the University of Maryland to that list.

The bill calls on Mr. Pines to “restore the online resources previously available to undocumented and immigrant students” and publicly “declare the University of Maryland a sanctuary campus.”

Institutions that already identify as sanctuary campuses include Portland State University, Reed College in Oregon, Wesleyan University in Connecticut, Pitzer College in California, Santa Fe Community College in New Mexico, the University of Pennsylvania and Swarthmore College, also in Pennsylvania.

“Students do not want masked federal agents searching their campuses for undocumented immigrants,” Jonathan Zimmerman, a Penn professor of education history, said in an email. “Our universities should be sanctuaries, for anyone who wants to learn. And it’s hard to do that when we’re walking in fear, which is precisely what the Trump Administration is trying to stoke.”

According to the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, a D.C. coalition of university officials who support inclusive immigration policies, the term “sanctuary campus” has no legal meaning.

Diego N. Sanchez, the alliance’s director of policy and strategy, said University of Maryland officials already provide guidance “within their legal authority” to undocumented students, despite the student government’s claims.

“While we understand the symbolism and desire for strong public statements, institutional support doesn’t look the same everywhere,” Mr. Sanchez said in an email. “In many cases, it takes the form of practical, behind-the-scenes actions that help students feel protected and informed.”

Trump administration deportations have frequently targeted pro-Palestinian foreign students in recent months. Many of these students led protests to cut ties to Israel over its military response to the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas raid that killed more than 1,200 people, mostly Israelis, and took over 250 hostages.

In a letter to University of Maryland administrators, the Student Government Association noted that 55% of students who participated in an April election asked the “administration to divest from companies knowingly engaging in human rights violations.”

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim advocacy group, welcomed this month’s sanctuary campus bill as a sign of students’ commitment to the privacy of foreign students.

“CAIR welcomes this measure and supports efforts to promote safe and equitable learning environments that protect students’ rights,” Zainab Chaudry, CAIR’s Maryland director, said Thursday.