Tim Tai

As Trump’s administration ramps up immigration enforcement against student protesters, the University spokesperson clarified that Yale will not voluntarily assist federal immigration agencies.  

In response to a question about whether the University plans on sharing information on students, activists or not, with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, should the agency demand information on any students, the spokesperson said the University would not voluntarily share it. 

“Pursuant to Connecticut Law, the university would only share information with ICE pursuant to a judicially authorized subpoena,” the spokesperson said. 

The Washington Post recently reported that government civil rights lawyers are using an ongoing investigation into how universities handled campus protests and alleged antisemitism to get information on the names of student protesters and their nationalities. 

The University spokesperson declined to comment on whether the University would comply should the government request this information on students, but said that the University will “protect student privacy in accord with the law.” 

When asked if the University plans on providing immigration counsel for noncitizen students targeted by the Trump administration, the spokesperson said that “short-term legal guidance” is available. 

“We have partnered with identified immigration attorneys who can provide short-term legal guidance and assistance to our students and scholars regarding visa, travel, and other immigration issues,” the spokesperson wrote. 

Dean of Yale College Pericles Lewis declined to comment on whether particular students are currently facing risk of deportation related to their political activities, but asserted that “we’re there to help advise them” regardless of political affiliation. 

“At Yale, we believe in being open to international scholars from all across the world,” Lewis said. “Obviously, there are reasonable regulations about these things, and the government doesn’t always give a visa to everybody who applies, but a strength of the United States is that we are open to people from all across the world to build our excellent universities.”

The University spokesperson also wrote about Yale initiatives to familiarize international students and scholars with information about what they should do if approached by immigration officials. The spokesperson referred the News to Yale’s public safety guidelines on interacting with law enforcement. 

The guidelines advise students approached by federal, state or local agencies — which would include ICE agents — to contact the Yale Police Department immediately. They also advise students to “request a YPD officer to accompany” the agents when entering their residence. Yale does not permit outside law enforcement officers to access campus without a search warrant or other legal authorization. 

Students involved in the pro-Palestine movement at other universities have already been detained by immigration officials. 

Former Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, who is a legal permanent resident in the United States and was involved in Columbia’s pro-Palestine protests, was arrested on March 9. Officials in the Trump administration claim Khalil is sympathetic with Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist group. Khalil and his legal team have maintained that the detainment is illegal and a violation of his rights. 

Trump officials also tried to arrest Barnard junior Yunseo Chung, a legal permanent resident who was one of several students arrested in March at a pro-Palestine sit-in at Barnard College. Chung, who has lived in the United States since she was 7 years old, is currently suing President Trump and other officials over the attempts to arrest her.

On Wednesday, federal agents detained Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish graduate student at Tufts University who had a valid visa. Last March, Ozturk co-authored an opinion article criticizing Tufts for failing to “acknowledge the Palestinian genocide” and divest from companies with ties to Israel.

A social media statement by Trump has indicated that detainment of noncitizen students involved in the pro-Palestine movement could extend to other college campuses. 

“This is the first arrest of many to come,” Trump wrote after the apprehension of Khalil. 

A spokesperson for the Sumud coalition, Yale’s pro-Palestinian activist organization, wrote to News that the University’s “silence” during these deportations is “shameful.” 

Beyond the Khalil and Chung cases, the government efforts appear to be broad, snaring even those who are not politically active. 

“As we have seen in recent weeks, noncitizen university affiliates across the board are being targeted, illegally, by the Trump administration’s racial and religious profiling and ideological interventionism,” said Greta LaFleur, a professor in Yale’s American Studies department who is part of the legal team representing Yale’s student protesters arrested in encampments last spring. 

Trump assumed office on Jan. 20.