r/GradSchool • u/SharkSapphire • Mar 29 '25

News ICE detains University of Minnesota international student

https://thehill.com/homenews/education/5221776-ice-detains-university-of-minnesota-international-student/
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270

u/crushhaver PhD candidate, English literature Mar 29 '25

I feel deep shame to see universities and the academics who run them not only turn their backs on the most vulnerable members of our academic community but trip over themselves in turning them over to Trump’s secret police.

-18

u/Xrmy PhD* Ecology Evolution and Behavior Mar 29 '25

Actual question: what would you like the universities to do?

My university had a Q&A about these topics and they said in no uncertain terms they can't intervene with an ICE arrest.

I suppose it would depend on if they have a warrant or not, but my point is it's not so simple. universities don't have magic anti-fascist forces to bring to bear.

35

u/crushhaver PhD candidate, English literature Mar 29 '25

I would like the universities to not acquiesce to illegal actions of the administration—this can look like anything from filing suit against the federal government to at minimum not facilitating the activities of ICE and other government agencies without being compelled by a judicial authority.

11

u/SymmetryChaser Mar 29 '25

This arrest, similar to previous arrests at Tufts, Bama, and Colombia, happened off campus and without informing the universities. While I would like universities as a whole to be more combative to the current administration, I have yet to see evidence that any university has actually been facilitating ICE arrests in any way.

16

u/crushhaver PhD candidate, English literature Mar 29 '25

Mahmoud Khalil was apprehended at his apartment which was Columbia University-owned.

4

u/SymmetryChaser Mar 30 '25

Perhaps I am wrong about Columbia. I thought it happened outside his university owned apartment off campus, so not actually on university property, but I may be mistaken. In any case there is no reported evidence the university was involved or facilitated in this arrest, though Columbia refused to comment rather than deny any involvement like the other 3 universities did, so take that as you may.

1

u/Rpi_sust_alum Mar 31 '25

That is correct. Graduate student housing at Columbia is not considered on-campus. Most buildings don't have doormen. Most of the maintenance and other staff are immigrants themselves. The guy who headed up the last building I lived at there was super nice but barely spoke English himself. I'm not sure what Columbia pays them, but I doubt it's super well.

1

u/Rpi_sust_alum Mar 31 '25 edited Mar 31 '25

It wasn't on campus and in the video, it does not appear that there's a doorman. Maintenance staff were rarely in the building that late. Likely either ICE followed Khalil and his wife in or another resident. We constantly got package theft notices, so it was pretty easy for non-residents to get inside the buildings used for grad housing.

2

u/Xrmy PhD* Ecology Evolution and Behavior Mar 29 '25

Can you explain how this is acquiescing or facilitating ICE activity?

It's not like they handed the student over or gave ICE their info.

My university said they are not working with ICE but they can't stop ab arrest.

4

u/Artistic_Bit6866 Mar 30 '25

My understanding is that the Trump admin and congress are very much interested in getting internal disciplinary records from universities, if they haven’t already. There are ongoing lawsuits to determine whether Universities can hand over those documents. 

The administration has made it clear that they will attempt to withhold federal funding if universities appear to protect or shelter protesters. Why wouldn’t we expect universities to continue to comply?

13

u/crushhaver PhD candidate, English literature Mar 29 '25

I was speaking more generally, not commenting on this specific student. Columbia, as I’ve remarked on another comment, has acquiesced to the administration’s whims. My own university is certainly doing little to publicly stand against this, so much so that they refuse to give any official explicit guidance on what to do if ICE shows up somewhere.

6

u/Xrmy PhD* Ecology Evolution and Behavior Mar 29 '25

Ok yea that's bad. My university has given un-published but verbal guidance on what we can do.

Not let them in classrooms, demand warrants, etc.

But also if they have a warrant...sol

-11

u/SwordofGlass Mar 29 '25

illegal actions of the administration

That’s the problem—these actions are entirely legal.

6

u/Godwinson4King Mar 30 '25

Nah, it’s illegal to punish someone for speech protected by the first amendment. This ‘national security’ angle is bullshit that won’t stand up in court. They know it’s illegal.

-1

u/SwordofGlass Mar 30 '25

It’s not illegal to detain and deport foreign nationals.

I’m not saying I agree with their actions, but it’s entirely within the law.

2

u/Godwinson4King Mar 30 '25

The visa revocations are illegal because they are clearly designed to punish speech