After President Donald Trump’s first week in office resulted in mass deportations of illegal immigrants, University of North Carolina faculty members have chosen the side of “resistance”.

The deportations began after the Department of Homeland Security rescinded the Biden Administration’s guidelines which previously restricted Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from enforcing immigration laws.

During a meeting of the UNC-CH Faculty Council, Chancellor Lee Roberts addressed the concerns of UNC faculty. “I can’t imagine how unsettling it must be to have uncertainty around immigration status or on immigration policy as an immigrant. I understand and empathize with that uncertainty; with that anxiety,” Roberts said.

Associate Professor Allison Schlobohm of the Kenan-Flagler Business School expressed fears about the recent directive from the Department of Homeland Security, which now allows ICE to operate inside previously protected spaces like schools and hospitals. “Those were previously considered sensitive spaces, and they no longer are,” Schlobohm argued. She noted that other universities were circumventing and not complying with the law, asking how UNC would approach this change.

Schlobohm pointed out that other universities, like UC Berkeley and UCLA, had already provided proactive guidance to faculty and non-citizens, outlining ways they could avoid compliance with ICE. She also highlighted the stance of Washtenaw County’s sheriff, who said she would not comply with ICE, claiming that the directive from Homeland Security was not a law but a request that relied on local cooperation. Schlobohm then raised the question of what faculty should do if asked to identify undocumented students, to which Roberts responded, “If we’re asked by law enforcement, we’re going to comply with any requests from law enforcement about that or anything else.”

Barbara Stephenson, UNC’s vice provost for global affairs and chief global officer, suggested that her office had previously outlined protocols for dealing with ICE, and that it would be disseminated to faculty.

History Professor Miguel La Serna spoke up, expressing sympathy for the fear and uncertainty illegal immigrants were facing – blurring the lines between legal international students and those here illegally. He urged university leadership to offer reassurances to DACA students, claiming that complying with law enforcement requests could result in violations of student privacy laws, such as FERPA. “What our DACA students need right now are reassurances from the leadership of this university that they will be protected,” La Serna claimed.

FERPA, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, is a federal statute that governs the access to and sharing of student education records. It gives parents the right to access their child’s records, request changes, and control disclosure. Once a student turns 18, their consent is typically needed for disclosure.  Professor La Serna did not explain how FERPA protects illegal migrants from the consequences of breaking immigration laws.

Chancellor Roberts reassured the council that the university would seek legal counsel when interpreting conflicting laws. “I’m not going to try to issue an interpretation on the fly. I’m well aware of the anxiety and we’re going to continue to try to serve our immigrant students and scholars as best we can,” he said.

Of the roughly 3,000 international students attending UNC-Chapel Hill, it is not clear what percentage of them are in the U.S. illegally. The Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and the American Immigration Council estimates that around 3,000 “undocumented students” graduate from high school each year in North Carolina.  So far, there have been no indications from the Trump administration that legal international students are the target of deportation efforts.  Still opponents of immigration law enforcement consistently conflate legal and illegal immigration to argue their point.