‘Caught up in this fascist web’: Amid visa revocations, students call on University of Delaware to resist Trump administration

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Chants of “We will not put up with ICE” and “We stand with international students” filled a campus courtyard last week at the University of Delaware.

Some 200 students had gathered to protest the Trump administration’s revocation of eight UD-sponsored visas for students to study there or work in the United States, and called on Delaware’s flagship university to do more to protect its 2,200 international students.

Three of those at UD who had their visas or legal status terminated are graduate students, and five were doing post-grad work, according to an alert the university provided April 10. The notice came as the Department of Homeland Security under President Donald Trump began revoking visas at campuses in the region and across America — a number that has since surpassed 1,000.

Dennis Assanis, UD’s president, and other school leaders assured the campus community in the alert that the Newark-based school “had no advance notice of or involvement with these decisions by the federal government.” Assanis stressed that he knew of no student “being arrested or detained” and that UD officials were not aware “of a federal law enforcement presence on our campus related to these matters.”

The school is also providing information on its website to answer questions from concerned students and employees.

Citing news reports from around the nation, the website says that federal actions at UD could be “occurring as a result of past law enforcement issues, visa infractions or failure to maintain immigration status, and protest activities.”

UD is also offering its international students and workers a “free 15-minute, one-on-one consultation with immigration attorneys,” the website says.

The students who gathered outside Old College Hall off Newark’s Main Street for some 90 minutes last Wednesday called out both the Trump administration and the school’s leadership. Some faculty members attended but did not address the crowd.

Nora Lucas, a Kansas native working on her doctorate in geography at UD, participated as a member of the university’s Graduate Student Mutual Aid group.

“These status terminations just kind of came out of nowhere and then we’ve just been working ever since to try to get resources out to people,” Lucas told WHYY News. “But it’s definitely been shocking and it’s pretty terrifying for international students, especially in the beginning.”

The protesters decried the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, yelling that they didn’t want so-called ICE agents on campus. They complained that Secretary of State Marco Rubio “brags about deporting students for exercising their First Amendment rights.”

Some held signs railing against deportations, visa revocations and even the arrest of protesters at other campuses. One placard waved by a young man proclaimed: “My classmate isn’t the threat. ICE is.”

UD’s website informed students, however, that immigration enforcement agents are not required to notify university officials if they go to public areas such as its grounds, library or student centers, which are places anyone can enter.

But to enter private areas such as dormitories, ICE agents must have a warrant signed by a judge and an arrest warrant if they plan to detain someone, the school said.

UD also linked to a webpage from the Delaware Attorney General’s Office that outlines the rights people have if approached by ICE agents.

But Emma Abrams, co-chair of UD’s Young Democratic Socialists of America chapter, which helped organize the rally, called on the school to be a more strident defender of its student body.

“We believe deeply that these visa revocations as they are happening currently are illegal and the university should not be complying with illegal visa revocations,” said Abrams, a junior from Charleston, South Carolina, who is majoring in environmental and natural resource economics.

Abrams said her group has tried to meet with UD’s Board of Trustees, which includes Assanis, to discuss the issues, but essentially was ignored — a response she said is typical.

“They really don’t interact at all, day to day,” Abrams said.

Assanis would not speak with WHYY News about the revocations or the students’ concerns, but the school shared its notice to the campus community, including the webpage with questions and answers, and a statement issued after the demonstration.

UD “takes very seriously all matters pertaining to the wellbeing and safety of our international students and scholars,” the statement said. Officials “will continue to support them while remaining in compliance with all applicable laws … and providing them with necessary support resources, including access to various university services and outside immigration legal counsel.”

‘In a time like this, moral courage is incredibly important’

International students are critical to the university. They comprise about 10% of the total student population and 37% of the 4,300 students taking graduate or doctoral courses.

The countries sending the most students to UD are China, India, Bangladesh, Nigeria and Iran, the school’s website says.

While no information about the eight impacted students has been made public, advocates are concerned that some have already left the United States.

State Rep. Madinah Wilson-Anton, who has a master’s degree from UD, said she heard that one former visa holder has already “self-deported” to prevent possibly harsher action by the federal government during Trump’s second presidency, now in its fourth month.

“It seems like the student gets notice that their visa has been revoked and they’re given a certain amount of days to self-deport,” said Wilson-Anton, a Delaware native and Democrat who attended and spoke at the protest. “Anyone with the means is going to do that and not chance getting caught up in this fascist web.”

Wilson-Anton said she’s concerned the leadership at her alma mater is playing it too safe with Trump. As a contrast, she pointed to Harvard University’s adamant and public refusal last week to enact several policies sought by Trump’s team under the threat of losing billions of dollars in federal grants and contracts. Harvard sued the Trump administration Monday.

“The sense that I’m getting is that the University of Delaware administration is trying to not make any moves that will bring attention to them,” Wilson-Anton said. “And that’s a strategy that I’ve seen a lot of people try to do during this time, and I think it’s not the best strategy.”

“I think what Harvard is doing and what other actors have decided to do, which is stand up and actually challenge unconstitutional behavior from the Trump administration, that’s what we should be doing,” she said. “And I think in a time like this, moral courage is incredibly important.”

‘They feel that the university is being very passive’

To that end, the graduate student group has petitioned UD to take several steps, including:

• Refuse to cooperate with ICE. “Given the illegality of status termination without due process, the university should not engage in information-sharing requirements which ultimately put our community at risk of detention and deportation,” the petition said.
• Not comply with Trump’s recent executive order to “monitor and report” suspected antisemitic behavior by international students and faculty.
• Maintain the enrollment of students whose visas are revoked, and provide them with academic support “to permit their continued degree progress and support future visa reinstatement.”
• Provide “timely, clear, and accurate communication to international scholars,” especially when their legal status changes, and inform the campus of the number of students affected “and whether status terminations are related to free speech.”
• Provide institutional legal support and financial assistance to help students pay for lawyers.
• Say publicly that the school is willing to “act via legal advocacy or litigation to defend the due process rights of students and scholars facing removal or status termination.”
• Join an alliance of university leaders who submitted a court brief in support of a lawsuit brought by the American Association of University Professors against the Trump administration’s visa revocations and detentions of noncitizen students.

Lucas said the school simply isn’t stepping up enough for students who help give UD valuable prestige in the world of academia.

“So basically the information that we’ve received from UD so far has been like, ‘We’ll connect you with some immigration attorneys, but essentially, like, you’re on your own,’” Lucas said. “They don’t tell you to self-deport, but they say you don’t have very much time. It’s unlawful to be here. It’s up to you and your lawyer to make that decision.”

Lucas said that while she understands and respects that UD is “trying to maintain privacy of the students, but that also kind of means that they’re not giving us very much information.”

Wilson-Anton applauded the students for taking such a strong stand.

“I’m really inspired by the students at the university who are forcing the conversation,” the lawmaker said. “They’re offering ideas and ways forward.”

Muqtedar Khan, a University of Delaware professor of international relations who attended the protest with other faculty members, said students need to know some have their backs. He noted that few in the crowd were grad students, perhaps out of fear of being seen demonstrating in public.

“There’s a lot of anxiety and worry among the students,” Khan said. “They’re feeling that for any reason or for no reason at all, their educational journey could be interrupted.”

Khan said the sense he gets is that “students are feeling that the university is perhaps not engaging them because they are in a state of fear. They feel that the university is being very passive.”

Abrams said it’s clear that UD “is very unprepared for the ‘new normal’ of the federal government” under Trump.

“If the federal government is no longer operating according to legality,” Abrams said, “the university must refuse compliance and must also be proactive in establishing a plan to address this lawlessness that doesn’t rely on what used to be normal.”

This story was supported by a statehouse coverage grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.