Baala Shakya, Staff Photographer

Yale Public Safety announced Saturday night that access to non-public campus buildings will be restricted to Yale ID holders beginning on Monday at noon. The announcement comes one day after Yale’s Office of International Students and Scholars published a webpage on interactions with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, promising that the University will not allow immigration authorities into non-public campus areas without a judicial warrant or subpoena.

On Friday evening, rumors circulated among Yalies that ICE agents in civilian clothes had been spotted near campus, according to multiple students who spoke to the News on the condition of anonymity. A Yale administrator said that rumors suspecting ICE agents were near campus on Friday night are “false.”

A University spokesperson did not confirm nor deny whether Yale Public Safety’s swipe access policy update is related to the University’s recent communications and guidelines about potential ICE encounters on campus.

Instead, the University spokesperson wrote, “We are heading into a busy time at the end of the semester and prioritize the safety of our community members.”

Yale Public Safety’s announcement does not mention outside law enforcement and instead references University President Maurie McInnis’s upcoming inauguration and the University commencement in May as reasons for the policy update and reminder.

Yale, local police say no ICE presence reported

On Friday evening, some residential college leadership called international students living off campus to offer them the option of staying on campus overnight, according to two students who received these calls. Other students with an empty bed in their suites were asked over email late Friday night by at least one Head of College to “make sure that this bed is clear” and “note that a student may be placed in that bed at any time,” according to communications obtained by the News.

On Saturday, one international student who spoke under the condition of anonymity told the News that some of their friends in the international community began panicking after hearing the rumors of an ICE sighting, and that most believed them to be true. The News could not independently verify the source of the rumor or when it began.

“I was not too worried but it felt like something that was hanging over us since January was now here,” the student said, referring to the Jan. 20 inauguration of President Donald Trump, who promised stricter immigration policies throughout his campaign. 

While Ozan Say, the director of the Office of International Students and Scholars, declined to comment on the communications with off-campus international students, he clarified that “ICE presence near campus yesterday is a false rumor” in an email to the News on Saturday morning.

A University spokesperson reaffirmed on Saturday evening that the University had not received any notice of immigration agents on campus.

New Haven Police Chief Karl Jacobson told the News on Saturday morning that he was “not aware of any incidents” of ICE activity or presence from Friday night. Though New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker has told the News that ICE has historically notified the NHPD when it intends to operate within the city, an NHPD spokesperson clarified that the federal agency does not always do so. 

Public Safety, international students office post guidelines for ICE encounters 

A list of frequently asked questions about immigration on the Office of International Students and Scholars website, posted on Friday, states that Yale will “not allow” ICE agents to enter “non-public” areas on campus without a subpoena or judicial warrant. 

The OISS webpage clarifies that such “non-public” areas include “all classrooms, research and teaching labs, offices, dormitories or housing.” The page does not provide more details on how University officials might prevent or restrict law enforcement agents from accessing such spaces.

The webpage instructs students who witness or encounter an ICE representative “while on campus” to immediately call the YPD’s non-emergency number. 

New guidance on the Yale Public Safety website homepage instructs Yale community members who encounter “any non-YPD personnel on campus, including those from immigration enforcement” to ask for the agent’s credentials and request that they wait in a public area for the YPD to arrive. The guidance also notes that “YPD does not enforce U.S. immigration law.”

A one-page document with more detailed guidance published on the Public Safety website also instructs community members to contact Yale’s Office of General Counsel if they are approached by law enforcement.

The OISS webpage affirms that Yale will not voluntarily allow federal immigration enforcement agencies to obtain or review student and employee records, personal information or non-public research without a subpoena or judicial warrant. If a warrant is procured, the University will notify the student or employee in question, unless prohibited from doing so.

The University has stated that it can connect students with short-term legal representation and that it will help international students denied reentry into the U.S. “by advising on resources for immigration assistance and academic options.”

Yale’s new guidance on encountering federal law enforcement follows the federal government’s detainment of multiple international students and scholars, including individuals who publicly expressed pro-Palestinian views during the past year’s nationwide protests relating to the war in Gaza. ICE detained Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University alum and green card holder, on March 9 and Rumeysa Ozturk, a graduate student at Tufts University on a student visa, on March 25.

Public Safety updates campus building access policies

In an email to the Yale community on Saturday night, Duane Lovello, head of Public Safety, announced new policies on restricted access to University buildings. 

Starting at noon on Monday, “access to academic buildings and classrooms will require an active university ID,” the email reads.According to the email, buildings open to the public, such as libraries and museums, will remain “greenlit.”

The message also reiterated safety reminders for the Yale community, which included reporting suspicious activity to the Yale Police Department, locking doors and windows and downloading the Livesafe app. 

This is a developing story.

Yurii Stasiuk contributed reporting.