What ICE Has Become — And Why It Matters to Students

Arsema Tekleab
1 day ago
3 min read

As immigration raids intensify across the country, students with undocumented family members say fear and uncertainty have become part of their daily lives — even on college campuses meant to feel safe. At Clark Atlanta University, a private institution in the Atlanta University Consortium (AUC) with Spelman College and Morehouse College, a protest held on January 26, 2026, drew hundreds of students outside in snowy weather to demand change. Since President Trump’s term began, the emphasis on the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deporting immigrants has grown. Legally, ICE’s main goal is to enforce U.S. immigration and customs laws. Unfortunately, they have become an aggressive group with an unwarranted level of power.

Students took to the streets to protest against all the damage ICE has caused. ICE has been connected to several detention camps where they are holding groups of people who have been reported as deported. Along with this, they have conducted dozens and dozens of raids across the country. Last year, The Guardian reported that 32 people died in their containment — making 2025 the deadliest year of ICE detention in 2 decades. ICE has also had fatal shootings resulting in 4 deaths and multiple injuries. President Trump's agenda to detain immigrants in the U.S has clearly taken precedence over safety. Not only are all of these actions traumatizing, but they are causing possible irreversible damage to those who are physically harmed, killed, and whose families are being torn apart. Racism and discrimination are at an all-time high, with the agency often approaching people based on their appearance and race.

In education, when students are worried about their families being separated or their own futures being put at risk, it becomes harder to focus on classes, careers, and campus involvement. If colleges truly aim to support student success, then policies and conversations around immigration enforcement must center on their students' safety and comfort.

“ICE has... put fear into my family’s and mine's hearts,” Janiya Agurs, a junior at Clark Atlanta University, says. “The treatment of detainees in ICE’s custody has been the furthest thing from civil, and it is a classic example of the President we have now and his hatred.”

Education is meant to be a space for growth, opportunity, and security — not uncertainty. Higher education depends not just on academic achievement, but on ensuring that every student feels safe enough to pursue it.

ICE has not been specific about who they have been deporting. Though the President claims ICE targets criminals, they have been spotted in several different environments that are not crime-ridden. From workplaces to college campuses, they’re targeting people in the midst of everyday lives.

Imagine being 19 years old, going to class, and being stopped by an officer wearing a mask who asks for two forms of identification to prove you are supposed to be on your college campus. This is what President Trump is aiming to make normal. This request should never be made normal. Unfortunately, we are only one year into his presidency, with three years left to endure. If ICE’s presence in states like Minnesota is any indication, the agency seems to be getting more aggressive. In response, students across California, Georgia, D.C., and more

are protesting to keep their communities, peers, and right to higher education safe.