Last Revision: January 30, 2025
CUNY is remarkable in many ways. One of them is the care and commitment that faculty and staff regularly extend to their students in trying times.
Thousands of CUNY students are not citizens of the United States, and a substantial number are undocumented immigrants or have undocumented family members. The Trump Administration has begun increased enforcement of immigration laws, including but not limited to raids and mass deportations of undocumented immigrants and the prosecution of those who assist them. The administration has discarded “sensitive locations” policies which limited immigration enforcement in places like schools, churches, and medical facilities. They have also put forward a radical reinterpretation of the 14th Amendment that threatens to drastically alter the meaning of American citizenship, with wide-ranging consequences for the communities that CUNY serves.
In this context, many faculty, staff, and students are experiencing heightened stress, uncertainty, and fear. For students, this may affect academic performance and overall well-being. As educators, we are able to create supportive, inclusive classroom environments that affirm students’ identities. We can also provide access to reliable information.
It is incumbent upon us to be informed and aware of our rights and responsibilities as educators, as well as what we and our students can and cannot expect from the institution in terms of support. We also should be aware of the limits to our capacities and the risks to both ourselves and our students in the current climate.
Communicating With and Supporting Students
Students’ lives may be disrupted by immigration enforcement actions in their homes, neighborhoods, or communities. Faculty can demonstrate support for students by offering flexibility on when assignments are due, and offering to connect students to support resources (see below). If comfortable, faculty may indicate to students in class their willingness to offer specific kinds of support, and invite students to meet with them privately. Faculty might also check in with students after unexpected or extended absences. When doing so, faculty should keep their inquiries general, avoiding asking about or mentioning immigration status in electronic communications, and should avoid asking students to disclose information about their status or the status of members of their families. If students do disclose such information, faculty should advise them not to do so via electronic communication, and refer them to the resources below.
This resource offers general guidance designed for K-12 educators, but provides language that faculty may find beneficial for demonstrating support to immigrant students.
The Teaching and Learning Center remains available to instructors who want to discuss how to best support their students. Our Office Hours are listed here; all conversations will remain confidential.
CUNY Resources
CUNY’s Undocumented and Immigrants Student Programs organized a webinar in mid-January 2025 to address common questions as we prepare for the Spring 2025 semester. Slides from the webinar are available here, and we’ve highlighted key takeaways for Graduate Center student instructors below. CUNY maintains a website offering guidance to undocumented students. It is unclear how actively that site is being maintained, but it includes emergency guidance worth familiarizing yourself with and sharing with students. They also have an immigration updates page which should reflect upcoming changes to policies and procedures, along with other relevant resources.
CUNY campuses also have designated “immigrant success liaisons.” Find more information and individual campus contacts here. If you contact them about specific students, do so with care and discretion (for instance, avoid sharing students’ names over email).
CUNY resources for legal services include CUNY School of Law’s Immigrant and Non-Citizen Rights Clinic and CUNY Citizenship Now.
Local Community-based Organizations
The organizations below may offer intake processes, know your rights training, and other educational materials. Contact the organizations directly for the most up-to-date information on offerings.
- The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (Tribeca, Manhattan)
- Desis Rising Up & Moving (Jackson Heights, Queens)
- Make the Road NY (city-wide)
- Neighbor’s Link (Westchester, NY)
- Catholic Charities (city-wide)
- New York State Youth Leadership Council (city-wide, student-run in public K-12 schools & CUNY)
- Unlocal (city-wide)
Staying Informed
It is important to note that this is a developing story, and a site of expanding conflict and uncertainty in American society; any information shared may change without notice. It is also worth noting that encounters with immigration enforcement can be intimidating, terrifying, and risky. Agents likely will not react well to resistance or the assertion of constitutionally-protected rights. Refusing the orders of a federal agent may lead to arrest, incarceration, and prosecution. All educators should be aware of the implications of their actions, emerging trends in enforcement, and community-based resources for legal and financial support should they be needed.
Professors Nermeen Arastu and Talia Peleg of CUNY School of Law have compiled the links below to help us all stay on top of immigration-related developments.
Groups to follow for up-to-date information on national and local immigration policy and actions:
- Immigrant Defense Project
- New York Immigration Coalition
- National Immigration Project
- American Immigration Council
- Documented NYC
- National Immigration Law Center: Day One Executive Orders Analysis and Warrants and Subpoenas 101
- The Immigration Policy Tracking Project
- American Civil Liberties Union
FAQs
- Where can we get “rights cards” to give to students?
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- Rights cards offer easy-to-follow guidance to help immigrants assert their rights and protections under the US Constitution. The Immigration Legal Resource Center provides cards in numerous languages that can be ordered or printed. See https://www.ilrc.org/red-cards-tarjetas-rojas
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- Will CUNY provide a list of lawyers working pro bono to aid students and their families at risk of deportation?
- CUNY’s Citizenship Now can assist with deportation defenses. They will help with locating a student who is detained and, when possible connect the family with a free or low-cost attorney.
- How can at-risk students prepare for potential contact with authorities?
- Gather immigration documents in a safe and accessible place. Ideally these docs should all be scanned and kept in an email account so they can’t be lost. False documents should never be used because they could be used against immigrants in a court case.
- Prepare for medical needs. Organize a list of medications that you take (so if you are detained, you have a list ready to go so that a family member can get them to you).
- Make a plan with family, roommates, or friends.
- Write down all emergency contacts in case of detainment
- Document medical needs (conditions and prescriptions)
- Prepare finances by designating a trusted person who can access your accounts
- Pay off any tickets (jumping a turnstile is a common one, jaywalking, etc.).
- Consider assigning power of attorney to a trusted person and designating a guardian for children. Consult a lawyer for assistance with these matters.
- Clean up social media. Make accounts private, and delete anything you wouldn’t want immigration enforcement agents to see.
- What if ICE comes to my classroom?
- This is an extremely unlikely scenario. But if an immigration agent seeks access to your classroom, you may request information from the agent regarding their credentials, the purpose of the access request, and ask for any documentation that authorizes their access. You can then inform the agent that you must consult with school officials prior to opening the door. Call campus security from your classroom, and request assistance. ICE agents should be escorted to campus’s legal council.
- Schools are not required to provide information about students’ attendance or locations or to make students available on the spot without the opportunity to consult with the Chief School Administrator and/or district legal counsel.
- This is an extremely unlikely scenario. But if an immigration agent seeks access to your classroom, you may request information from the agent regarding their credentials, the purpose of the access request, and ask for any documentation that authorizes their access. You can then inform the agent that you must consult with school officials prior to opening the door. Call campus security from your classroom, and request assistance. ICE agents should be escorted to campus’s legal council.
- What if ICE comes to my home?
- This graphic from Make the Road NY lays out the rights immigrants have if they encounter ICE.
- Have a plan
- ICE does not have the right to enter a home without a valid warrant signed by a judge.
- If they attempt to enter without showing a warrant, say “I do not consent.”
- They may try to enter by showing other kinds of warrants, such as an “ICE Warrant for Arrest of Alien” (Form I-200)), which is a warrant often used by immigration officers but is not a judicially-issued warrant. These warrants are not valid unless they are signed by a judge.
- Remain calm, ask for an immigration attorney immediately
- Do not sign any documents without having them reviewed by an attorney.
- You have the right to record your or someone else’s interactions with ICE.
- What information can be shared with immigration officials about students?
- FERPA Laws prevent CUNY from releasing any student data or records without a warrant. If faculty are presented with a warrant—another unlikely scenario—they should contact their department chair immediately and request guidance.