A shaky rollout of guidance for DePaul residence advisers has led to uncertainty for the student workers. They worry that they will be the first point of contact with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers if they  attempt to enter “limited access, nonpublic areas” on the university’s campus. 

One RA that works in a first-year hall, who asked to not be identified out of fear of losing their job, said  it has been “chaotic” for Housing workers when trying to understand what their role is if ICE encounters them. That RA and others claim that DePaul said their response to ICE and law enforcement should be the same — and that is “problematic.”  

DePaul employs 57 students as resident advisers across DePaul’s 12 dorm and apartment-style residence halls on the Lincoln Park Campus. 

Chicago is under a perpetual threat of immigration raids as ICE has detained more than 100 people in Chicago since President Donald Trump took office. The president has made it clear that the city is a target due to its welcoming city ordinance. DePaul has reaffirmed its support to all students regardless of immigration status.

Shortly before Trump took office, DePaul restated its guidelines for Public Safety officers in an email to the campus community. The email linked to a page that affirmed, “DePaul’s Public Safety Office does not ask anyone about their immigration status and does not create or maintain any records relating to the immigration status of members of the DePaul community.” 

The guidelines, laid out by the university’s general counsel, add that Public Safety would not assist with an arrest unless ICE has a valid criminal judicial warrant, which is different from an ICE civil immigration warrant. A judicial warrant is signed by a judge and allows officers to enter limited spaces and make arrests without permission. 

There are 46 students living on DePaul’s Lincoln Park Campus who are identified as having an  “out-of-country” geographic origin, according to DePaul Institutional Research & Market Analytics. These students could be international, undocumented or “DACAmented.” DePaul Housing staff do not ask for immigration status when students are applying for on-campus housing or explicitly ask in application for attendance. 

The first email sent to resident advisers, dated Jan. 22, 2025. (Obtained by The DePaulia)

The university’s guidance to DePaul’s community is to contact Public Safety and the university’s general council — the institution’s legal team — if confronted by ICE. 

However, RAs say they have been given a “confusing” set of instructions from their supervisors in the Office of Housing and Residence Life (HRL). They claim the instructions contradict the directive above and leave these student workers unsure about their responsibility. 

The first message, obtained by The DePaulia, was sent by Quana Atkins to West area RAs with guidance on Jan. 22.

The email indicated plans for the weekly RA meeting where resident directors briefed student employees on “their role” and “potential interactions” if ICE were to come to dorm buildings, according to emails sent to RAs obtained by The DePaulia. 

“You will also call Public Safety and call the administrator on duty,” an RA in a freshman residence hall said, recounting instructions in an interview. The DePaulia granted anonymity because the RA feared being reprimanded by Housing. “Once Public Safety arrives, they will take lead. They might dismiss you; if not listen to Public Safety, the AOD or ICE.” 

RAs said the first email made them unsure about the appropriate procedures if they were faced with ICE when serving as an adviser on call.

The second email sent to resident advisers, dated Jan. 25, 2025. (Obtained by The DePaulia)

This led Brett Plough, associate director of housing & residence life, to send a follow-up email on Jan. 28. 

Opening with an apology for sending mixed messages to student employees, the second email clarified that RAs should interact with ICE the way they would with “any other law enforcement.”

The message was not circulated to all members of Housing’s student staff. 

Another student employee who coordinates meetings with RAs and higher-ups said they were not briefed on these guidelines.

Because of their position, they are often told about the release of policies.

They said they heard about the release of guidelines from word-of-mouth and other peers who work as RAs.

“I think it’s encouraging student workers to be compliant,” the employee said. 

Kristin Claes Mathews, senior director of strategic communications and university communications, confirmed that DePaul Public Safety has not seen any ICE agents around campus, nor have they received any reports of ICE being on campus. 

“Please know that we will, within the confines of the law, use every capacity we have to help those in need during this time,” DePaul President Robert Manuel said at a university event on Feb. 3, as reported in DePaul Newsline. 

Katy Arnold, DePaul political science professor and immigration expert, explained the danger in sending the message to student employees that ICE and the Chicago Police Department have the same responsibilities. Arnold said this is harmful to the larger conversation regarding immigration enforcement and is false. 

Arnold said differentiating what ICE and CPD have the right to do can prevent confusing scenarios. 

“The university should know that an (ICE) arrest is not a normal arrest,” Arnold said. “There’s not been normal procedures, checks and balances or oversights that normal police have.”

ICE, and local law enforcement agencies such as CPD, have different authorities under immigration and criminal law. Conflating the two could leave student workers open to disciplinary action. 

All employees, including student workers, are responsible for safeguarding education records in compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Additionally, they must adhere to the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, which outlines ICE’s enforcement authority.

These legal requirements can “conflict” when university workers are confronted with federal law enforcement, according to LeRoy Rooker, a senior fellow at the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers and an expert on FERPA law. 

“You can share directory information so you could say, ‘Here’s a list of all our students,” Rooker said. “But nationality, national origin, that sort of thing is not a directory information item. So that means either consent or subpoenaing the information (would be required).” 

So if a student worker did share protected information with ICE, without a judicial warrant, the individual could face disciplinary action or the university could face civil penalties. 

The freshman residence hall RA said other Housing workers are also feeling in the dark. 

“I’ve heard, like some of my coworkers … say it’s kind of a crazy expectation to have for the RA role, which I agree,” the RA said. 

The other Housing employee said students working in campus residence halls have expressed feeling “disgusted” by the university’s recommendations.

The RA said that, despite the way the university has tasked them with responding, they still would not cooperate and let ICE into a residence hall. 

This may be a shared initiative.

“A lot of them have just decided, ‘No, we’re not doing this,’ which is good, because that means people are aware of what’s going on,” the Housing employee said.

The Trump administration rescinded a Biden-era policy which barred ICE from making arrests in deemed “sensitive locations,” such as schools, places of worship and health care facilities — DePaul property may have been protected under this bygone policy. 

The emails sent to RAs did not include the specific authority ICE has on private property, which would include dorm buildings. 

If ICE agents did come to resident halls, they must present a valid judicial warrant, signed by a judicial officer within the last two weeks.

Arnold, the political science professor, thinks that this is why it is “absurd” to assume student employees are armed with the proper knowledge if ICE were to arrive. While this information is accessible on the university’s general counsel site, it was not outlined specifically to Housing employees. 

The RA said they disagree with the current system of immigration enforcement — but feel “legally” bound to adhere to ICE’s direction. 

“I would feel guilty,” the RA said. “(But) you’re compelled to do something even if you don’t agree with it.” 

If they don’t comply with a directive from Public Safety or a law enforcement officer, they could face penalties from supervisors or university officials, through DePaul’s “reasonable directives” policy listed in the student handbook. 

This holds students liable to “not disregard a reasonable directive, either verbal or written, from a University official or office acting in their official capacity.” If a student disobeyed Public Safety or other DePaul official’s order to let in officers, the student could be held responsible in a student conduct hearing, as outlined in the student handbook. 

The current guidelines encourage RAs to call their higher-ups in the situation that ICE comes to campus. 

“If a law enforcement officer were to arrive on campus, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement, resident advisors should call Public Safety and their staff supervisor,” Rick Moreci, associate vice president of student affairs, said in a statement to The DePaulia. 

DePaul has continued to equate ICE’s authority to that of local law enforcement, like CPD, through their various guidelines sent out to RAs

At the same time, DePaul’s Center for Latino Research and College of Law is hosting a  “know your rights” event in collaboration with the DePaul Migration Collaborative in order to educate the community on advocacy and immigrant rights. 

The Housing student employee said DePaul’s guidance to RAs and other responses to immigration concerns go against the Vincentian values of the institution.

“I think the stance that the university is taking is almost like no stance,” the employee said. “It goes against (DePaul’s) concerns and values, especially considering that this is like a religious campus, and the role of Catholicism and the sanctuary movement.” 

Stay informed with The DePaulia’s top stories, delivered to your inbox every Monday.