LINCOLN PARK — More than 3,000 students, faculty and community members have signed a petition urging DePaul University to adopt “sanctuary campus” policies that would limit campus law enforcement’s cooperation with federal immigration authorities and expand protections for immigrant and international students. The effort, led by the campus’ chapter of the Young Democratic Socialists of America, has gained momentum in recent months amid sightings of federal immigration agents near campus and heightened enforcement activity in Chicago and other cities. Organizers delivered the petition, printed out and hand-delivered on a scroll, during a rally last week. They are calling on the university to bar campus police and contractors from assisting immigration agents without a judicial warrant, as well as for the school to provide Know Your Rights training, maintain enrollment and legal support for targeted students and send real-time alerts when agents are nearby. “With the dawn of a second Trump administration, immigrants’ rights once again face an existential attack,” the petition reads. “As a private Vincentian institution, DePaul University has an obligation to protect students, faculty, and campus workers from all oppressive threats. The University’s administration has taken excellent steps in this direction. However, to truly protect our community, our administration must be concretely proactive and publicly accountable.” Muhammad Qasim, a senior and one of the petition’s organizers, said students were forced to act due to federal immigration enforcement activity in Chicago and around the country. “We’re organizing because what’s happening isn’t theoretical,” Qasim said. “Federal immigration enforcement is active in our city, and students are seeing it firsthand. Students want the university to be proactive and publicly accountable, not just issuing statements after the fact.” Cordelia Weargan speaks outside the student center at DePaul University’s Lincoln Park campus on Jan. 30 to deliver a petition urging the school to adopt sanctuary campus policies and limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities. Credit: Patrick Filbin/Block Club Chicago Organizers said incidents of heightened immigration enforcement elsewhere — including in Minneapolis — add urgency to their demands. “People shouldn’t have to wonder whether immigration enforcement could show up during class or on their way home,” Qasim said. “That’s the fear driving this.” Students say those fears intensified after immigration agents were spotted near campus last fall, prompting alerts and rapid-response organizing among student groups. In October, reports of federal immigration agents near DePaul’s Lincoln Park campus put students on edge and led to calls for clearer communication from administrators. Organizers said the university’s delayed notifications and reliance on general safety guidance left many students feeling uncertain about what to do if agents appeared on or near campus. “Student groups were already responding on the ground,” Qasim said. “The administration said they didn’t want to spread fear or panic, but many of us had already been trained. Information would have helped us protect people.” Students gather outside the student center at DePaul University’s Lincoln Park campus on Jan. 30 to deliver a petition urging the school to adopt sanctuary campus policies and limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities. Credit: Patrick Filbin/Block Club Chicago Some faculty members have since offered attendance flexibility for vulnerable students, but students say they want formal, written policies rather than case-by-case accommodations. The petition outlines several steps organizers say would provide that clarity, including barring campus police and private security contractors from assisting immigration agents without a judicial warrant, maintaining enrollment and legal support for international students and issuing campuswide alerts when agents are nearby. It also calls for mandatory “Know Your Rights” training for the entire campus community, stating the sessions “should be compulsory for students” and staff and taught by the university so “the entire DePaul ecosystem” understands how to respond to immigration enforcement. Organizers say those demands stem from what they see as gaps in the university’s past response. Last fall, students reported immigration agents near campus, but administrators waited several hours before sending a campuswide notice, saying they did not want to cause unnecessary panic. Qasim said word spread first through group chats and rapid-response networks, and earlier alerts and clearer guidance would have helped students avoid the area or seek support. University officials said they are reviewing the petition and emphasized that student safety remains a priority. In a statement to Block Club, DePaul University said public safety officers are trained to respond if ICE or other federal law enforcement agents come to campus and noted that many university buildings are already private spaces with restricted access. The sanctuary campus push at DePaul has been building for months. The campus’ chapter of the Young Democratic Socialists of America launched a petition last school year and renewed the effort in the fall as immigration enforcement activity increased in Chicago. An earlier version drew roughly 1,700 signatures; organizers say the current petition has grown to more than 3,000 supporters. Students gather outside the student center at DePaul University’s Lincoln Park campus on Jan. 30 to deliver a petition urging the school to adopt sanctuary campus policies and limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities. Credit: Patrick Filbin/Block Club Chicago Similar efforts to adopt sanctuary campus policies gained traction after Donald Trump’s first election in 2016, when students at universities across Illinois urged administrators to formally limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. At the time, several Chicago-area schools — including the University of Illinois, Northwestern University and the University of Chicago — declined to adopt the label, saying the legal implications were unclear, while pledging support for undocumented and immigrant students through other policies. Students at the University of Chicago have also debated the idea. An editorial in the campus newspaper called on administrators to expand protections and clearly articulate their stance on immigration enforcement, though UChicago has not seen an organized campaign or formal petition effort like DePaul’s. DePaul students say their relationship with administrators has grown tense at times, particularly around protests and questions about how campus spaces are classified as public or private. During last week’s rally, only a small group of organizers were allowed inside the student center to deliver the petition while others were warned they could face arrest if they entered, organizers said. At the same time, students say they worry universities nationwide are pulling back from public stances on immigration and other political issues amid threats to federal funding. The Trump administration has scrutinized colleges over diversity and protest activity, creating what some students describe as a chilling effect on campuses. “There’s this feeling that universities are trying to keep their heads down because they don’t want attention from the federal government,” Qasim said. “But if you talk about justice and community, you have to back that up with policies that actually protect students. Otherwise it’s just words.” For now, organizers say they plan to continue collecting signatures, meeting with administrators and pushing for formal commitments. “We’re not trying to fight the university,” Qasim said. “We just want clear protections so students know the school has their safety in mind. That’s the goal.” * * * **Support Local News!** **Subscribe to Block Club Chicago, **an independent, 501(c)(3), journalist-run newsroom. Every dime we make funds reporting from Chicago’s neighborhoods. 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