Penn’s Undergraduate Assembly announced a resolution on Thursday to “safeguard” student rights against possible federal immigration enforcement on campus.
The March 29 proposal aims to establish “enforceable” University protocols for responding to potential federal immigration enforcement, protecting student safety, and ensuring all students are “informed of their rights.” The resolution comes after several student groups voiced concerns about how Penn would respond to United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity on campus.
“At the University of Pennsylvania, current guidance on interactions with external law enforcement lacks centralized visibility, consistency, and accessibility,” the resolution read. “This disproportionately affects undocumented, DACA, international, and other immigration-impacted students.”
“Resolutions are the highest power of the UA,” College junior and incoming UA President Musab Chummun wrote to The Daily Pennsylvanian. “It is crucial for Penn to prioritize its students, especially with issues concerning external law enforcement. Looking ahead, this Resolution will push administration to take more proactive measures, and work with stakeholder groups to advance student protections.”
In the document, the UA outlined several “key problems” at Penn — including a lack of “publicly accessible policies,” “inconsistent and unclear guidance” across different University offices, and limited awareness among students of their legal rights.
While University officials previously told the DP that they are “quite attuned” to the national issue, administrators have remained largely silent about how Penn would respond in the face of ICE activity on campus.
In an Thursday email to the Penn community announcing the resolution, UA President Nia Matthews wrote that the University “has a responsibility not only to respond lawfully, but also to respond with clarity, care, and preparedness.”
“Although the full scope of federal immigration enforcement remains shifting and, at times, deliberately unclear, its consequences for students are not abstract,” she wrote. “Penn must not allow ambiguity to become inaction, nor silence to stand in for support.”
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“This resolution came after months of student groups raising concerns and repeated meetings with University leadership in January and March,” Matthews explained to the DP. “We have been pushing Penn to act, and for too long, it has felt like we are yelling into a void.”
The UA addressed the resolution to Penn President Larry Jameson, Provost John Jackson Jr., the Division of Public Safety, the Office of General Counsel, Business Services Division, Wellness at Penn, the Vice Provost for University Life, and the University Board of Trustees.
A request for comment was left with a University spokesperson and DPS.
In an interview with the DP last month, DPS Vice President Kathleen Shields Anderson stated that the “presence of law enforcement in and of itself is not a reason to send out a UPennAlert” — referencing the University’s emergency notification system that disseminates information during “significant emergencies or dangerous situations.”
According to a “Frequently Asked Questions” list attached to the document, the organization drafted the document to ensure “University responses are legally compliant, consistent, and protective of student rights,” rather than in an effort to “override federal law.”
The resolution also details several incidents motivating its proposed protections — including events that have “demonstrated that ICE and DHS agents may attempt to access or enter spaces traditionally considered private even without a judicial warrant, sometimes through misrepresentation or forced entry.”
In February, a Columbia University student was detained by ICE officers who entered her residential building by allegedly impersonating members of the New York Police Department and requesting access to find a missing child.
“For far too long, these frightening interactions with federal immigration enforcement and the possibility of them engaging with our students has been framed as a false reality,” Matthews wrote in a statement to the DP. “The day the incident at Columbia took place, it was no longer a false reality.”
Citing policies at several other colleges and universities across the country, the UA called on Penn to “develop and publish a comprehensive protocol outlining the University’s procedures for responding to immigration enforcement activity on campus.”
The group also urged Penn to review its current policies, ensure “restricted campus spaces, such as residence halls, cultural and affinity spaces” are clearly designed and secured, and establish an institutional task force responsible for monitoring developments in federal immigration policy.
“As peer institutions implement more comprehensive response frameworks, including coordinated communication systems, legal guidance, and campus-wide education efforts, there is a growing expectation that universities proactively define their role in protecting students within the bounds of the law,” the document read.
“I understand that the administration is trying to be cautious, but there comes a point where being cautious to an extreme is the same as inaction,” Matthews told the DP. “Students need clear protocols and accessible resources. They need to see a University that’s willing to act with urgency. We wanted to make it clear that Penn cannot afford to keep hesitating on an issue this serious.”
RELATED:
As University remains silent on ICE, Penn community offers guidance for possible campus encounters
Penn’s University Council hears concerns over federal immigration enforcement, Title IX training
Isha Chitirala is a News Editor at The Daily Pennsylvanian and can be reached at chitirala@thedp.com. At Penn, she studies economics and political science. Follow her on X @IshaChitirala.
Finn Ryan is a News Editor at The Daily Pennsylvanian and can be reached at ryan@thedp.com. At Penn, he studies political science and Russian. Follow him on X @FinnRyan_.
