Sanctuary campus

A sanctuary campus is any college or university, typically in North America and Western Europe, that adopts policies to protect members of the campus community who are undocumented immigrants. The term is modeled after "sanctuary city", a status that has been adopted by over 30 municipalities. Although there is no official legal definition of sanctuary city, the term generally refers to towns, cities, or counties that welcome undocumented immigrants and decline to cooperate completely with federal detention requests related to undocumented immigrants, often with a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. Proposed policies on sanctuary campuses include:
The American Association of University Professors endorsed the sanctuary campus movement on November 22, 2016, and urged colleges and universities to adopt sanctuary policies.
An estimated 200,000 to 225,000 college students in the United States are undocumented, according to the Pew Research Center. Approximately 49% of undocumented immigrants between 18 and 24 have attended college or university, compared with 71% of all US residents in this age group. There are approximately 832,881 DACA recipients, short for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, residing in the United States. A survey revealed approximately 22.9 percent of DACA recipients were attending school with 73.5 percent of that portion working toward a bachelor’s degree or higher. Additionally there has been a large increase in International Students attending Colleges and Universities in the United States with more than 1.1 million (1,126,690) international students in 2023/2024, a 7 percent increase from the previous academic year.
President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 14188 on January 29th, 2025 promising “forceful and unprecedented steps” to investigate international students who participated in on-campus pro-Palestine protests last year and potentially revoke their visas. The order demands the investigation of any student visa holder who participated in “pro-Hamas vandalism and intimidation,” with the possibility of their visa being revoked “if warranted.”
Many campuses do not have a clearly stated definition of what crosses the line into antisemitism, and many student protesters have complained that their anti-Israel demonstrations have been unfairly conflated with antisemitism. As campuses begin to respond there is once again an elevation of conversation surrounding Sanctuary Campuses.
According to the Center for Immigration Studies, as of January 7, 2025, there were 13 states and hundreds of cities and counties with some sort of sanctuary laws that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities. In response to increasing numbers of sanctuary cities and campuses before and during President Donald Trump’s first term, at least 12 states banned sanctuary policies. There are no federal laws against sanctuary policies, but, while campaigning for his second term, President Trump stated he would “ask Congress to pass a law outlawing sanctuary cities nationwide, and … demand the full weight of the federal government on any jurisdiction that refuses to cooperate” with ICE.
In November 2016, students around the country staged demonstrations, walk-outs, and sit-ins in an effort to push their schools to declare themselves a "sanctuary campus" from President-elect Donald Trump's planned immigration policy of mass deportations. The Stanford, Rutgers, and St. Mary's protests on November 15, 2016 were among the first. In 2025, after the detainment of Mahmoud Khalil, the youth branch of the Democratic Socialists of America launched a nationwide sanctuary campus campaign and encouraged their branches at universities to start their own campaigns on their campuses. Colorado State University's YDSA chapter were first to have a sanctuary campus campaign, protesting on February 13, 2025.
Universities and colleges with protest activity in support of sanctuary campuses include:
In the wake of protests and petitions, at least eight colleges and universities have declared themselves sanctuary campuses, and many more have outlined policies and procedures that protect undocumented immigrant students and others threatened with registration or deportation. Student Governments across the United States are also unofficially declaring their Universities as “Sanctuary Campuses”. Michigan State University’s Associated Students of Michigan State University (ASMSU) for example passed a student resolution Bill 59-49 in 2023 to advocate and support MSU as a sanctuary campus for undocumented, immigrant, and international students. According to MSU’s Fall 2024 enrollment report, 8.5% of all students enrolled at the university are international students.
Portland State University and Reed College presidents were the first institutions in the country to officially declare their campuses as sanctuaries.
Rutgers president Robert Barchi responded that the school will protect the privacy of its illegal immigrants. California State University chancellor Timothy P. White made a similar affirmation. Iowa State University reaffirmed continuation of their already existing policy. Haverford College passed a resolution at the Fall 2022 Plenary (a biannual gathering of 2/3 of the student body that effectively creates policy for the college) that establishes Haverford as a sanctuary campus following their 2016 announcement of similar policies. Haverford's resolution will become official once signed by President Wendy Raymond.
California Senate Bill 54 was introduced by California senator Kevin de León. The bill requires that California, very much like a sanctuary city, vastly limit its law enforcement agencies from working alongside federal immigration agencies, as well as prohibit them from using their resources to detain and investigate people amongst other regulations, on the basis of immigration purposes. California law enforcement agencies will no longer be able to transfer a person or release information regarding their criminal history to federal immigration agencies without an existing judicial warrant. In addition to that, local and state law enforcement agencies will also be required to release the names of inmates/parolees to federal immigration agencies 60 days prior to them being released from jail if they are or were convicted for a violent crime. If a California law enforcement agency and federal immigration agency work in joint efforts, the California law enforcement agency cannot take on the role of an immigration agency. Not only that but as of January 1, 2009 it will have to create a biyearly report about the frequency of the joint efforts and information exchanged, and that all would have to be posted in the Attorney General's website. The bill has been voted on by the California Senate. According to CNN, it resulted in a 27–12 lead with Democrats being the dominant supporters. Despite the support from the California senate, the bill still faces opposition from groups such as the California State Sheriff Association, that feels like it too tightly limits their ability to carry out their job.
The California public schools this bill will directly affect are any k-12 school under local governing or charter school boards, the California Community College, and the California State University branch. Under this bill the security, police agencies, and staff working for them will be limited to no longer inquire information regarding a person's legal status, release private information that is not yet available to the public, or detain and question amongst other things on the basis of aiding an immigration enforcement agency/investigation. In order for this to take place, three months after the bill is approved, the General Attorney would need to publish a policy with the regulations and limitations that the public schools will need to enact in order to guarantee confidentiality to the students in regards to not releasing their information to immigration authorities. Not only that, but the policy will include regulations that won't allow for immigration agencies to work in the campus or have individuals transferred to them unless a judicial warrant is present. The public schools are expected to follow the policy, or create their own that is up to par with the one created by the Attorney General. Since the state will be imposing new regulations on public schools, they are up for reimbursement for the money they spend implementing them. That is because under California Constitution, a school district/campus is eligible for reimbursement if it had to create a new space in its budget to carry out its mandate. According to the LA Times, even though the University of California is not one of the California public school obligated to implement this bill if passed, it is encouraged to adopt its policies because it is a government organization that provides education and social services among other things to the residents of California.
The legal basis for sanctuary school and safe zone protection:
In 2017, Athlone Institute of Technology became the first designated college of sanctuary in Ireland.
City of Sanctuary UK recognises certain universities as Universities of Sanctuary. The first Universities of Sanctuary were the University of Edinburgh and University of Warwick in 2017. One of the first University Colleges of Sanctuary was Somerville College, Oxford in 2021.
The following institutions have been recognized as Universities of Sanctuary due to their commitment to creating a culture of welcome for people seeking sanctuary within, and beyond, their campuses: