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RFK Jr. taps eight new members for CDC's vaccine advisory panel; CO communities to join national 'No Kings' protests Saturday; End of hospital emergency abortion care rule will affect rural KY women; LIHEAP cuts could put lives at risk in rural AL, advocates warn.

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White House says there will be more ICE raids, as protests spread across the county. California Gov. Newsom says democracy is at a crossroads, and Elon Musk says he 'regrets' social media posts about President Trump.

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EV charging stations are harder to find in rural America, improving the mental health of children and teachers is the goal of a new partnership in seven rural states, and a once segregated Mississippi movie theater is born again.

How WA campuses can prepare for ICE

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Tuesday, March 4, 2025   

On President Donald Trump's second day in office, his Secretary of Homeland Security rescinded a Biden-era rule barring Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, agents from making arrests near "sensitive locations" - including colleges and universities.

Now, higher education leaders in Washington and elsewhere are navigating the fallout.

According to the Higher Ed Immigration Portal, international students make up more than 5% of all students in U.S. higher education. Nearly 24,000 international students are in higher education in Washington state.

President of the American Federation of Teachers, Randi Weingarten, 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," said Weingarten, "because, how do you create new things? How do you innovate? How do you imagine if you don't actually create academic freedom?"

Over 15% of Washington's population are immigrants, nearly 1.2 million people. Weingarten encouraged unions to work for "safe, welcoming campus communities with opportunity and dignity for all."

An institution's approach to doing so may change now that ICE is allowed on campus.

Tanya Broder, senior counsel on health and economic justice policy with the National Immigration Law Center, pointed out that immigration agents can only legally enter public - but not private - areas of campus without a warrant.

"It's very helpful to plan in advance when you can," said Broder, "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 also said schools should designate individuals to review judicial warrants for validity.

The American Federation of Teachers also advises institutions 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.

Director of Policy and Advocacy at the UndocuBlack Network, Haddy Gassama, spoke to higher education leaders on a recent webinar.

"I implore us to leverage the power that you have," said Gassama, "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."


Disclosure: American Federation of Teachers contributes to our fund for reporting on Education, Health Issues, Livable Wages/Working Families, Social Justice. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.


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