Under the Trump administration’s immigration policies, many student visa holders face an uncertain and anxious future in the United States. To address some of these worries, a “Know Your Rights” event informed students, faculty and community members about their rights when speaking to Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol agents.

The event — spearheaded by the Binghamton Policy Project, Concerned Residents of Greater Binghamton, the New York Immigration Coalition and the Network for a Sustainable Tomorrow — featured a speaker from the coalition, an organization consisting of more than 200 advocacy groups supporting immigrants and refugees. Organizers offered refreshments, and safety officers were present.

Mohammad Seraji, the coalition’s manager of community engagement for central New York, informed attendees on how to interact with ICE. She said ICE agents are often harder to identify than Customs and Border Protection officers because they “try to blend in with local law enforcement to carry out their raids, so that people answer questions that they wouldn’t normally answer.” They also mentioned a recently signed agreement between the Broome County Sheriff’s Office and ICE to train some corrections staff to serve civil immigration warrants.

Certain rights are applied differently in public and private spaces, which are often difficult to define. For example, a car is a public space for the driver of a vehicle but a private space for all passengers. To enter a private space, a judicial warrant is required, meaning that other orders like administrative warrants cannot be used to arrest someone.

Seraji also said these rules can apply differently to universities and dormitories, and students should confirm with their administrators to understand what rights they possess in on-campus student housing.

University leadership recently confirmed to Pipe Dream that at least five students had their student visas revoked. In a subsequent statement, administrators expressed support for international students.

The International Student and Scholar Services monitors the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System several times a day for changes affecting students’ nonimmigrant status because the federal government does not provide any advanced notice, it read. If there is a status change, officials reach out to the impacted student “with information about their visa termination, its implications and available resources.”

It added that the University is working with national associations of higher education, like the American Council on Education and the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities, to “advocate for consistent and compassionate immigration policies at the federal level.”

“Our efforts are rooted in a deep respect for each international student’s situation, alongside our institutional responsibilities to comply with federal laws and regulations,” the statement read. “We will continue to advocate for change, even as we work within existing constraints to provide the strongest possible support to those students affected.”

In a Jan. 31 statement to university presidents, Chancellor John B. King Jr. reaffirmed SUNY’s commitment to student privacy and referenced the difference between judicial and administrative warrants, adding that a New York executive order requires a judicial warrant or order “for execution of civil arrests by federal immigration authorities within State facilities, including SUNY campuses.”

Seraji said that knowing one’s rights is important to “remain grounded in our interactions with enforcement agents.” People in public spaces, regardless of immigration status, have the right to not answer questions about their status or respond with their name, as long as they do not lie or provide false documentation, she said. ICE agents also need a legal reason to detain someone, and if they are not able to provide one, people can walk away or ask if they are free to leave.

The Binghamton Policy Project reached out to faculty departments and student groups to “ensure broad distribution of information” about the event, wrote Angelo Pacheco, the organization’s DEI officer and a junior double-majoring in mathematics and philosophy, politics and law. He credited Zero Hour, the Powerful United Ladies Striving to Elevate and the Graduate Student Organization for helping to coordinate the event.

“We recognized that vulnerable students participate in a variety of ways on campus so we made sure to cast a wide net to ensure all corners of our campus community were aware of the opportunity to participate in this training,” wrote Pacheco. “We made sure to reach out to graduate student organizations as well to ensure that we reach beyond the undergraduate student body. In our outreach, we tried to emphasize the relevance and importance of the training not only for students directly affected by these policies but also for the broader student body.”

Abigail Connors, the Binghamton Policy Project’s co-president and a junior majoring in philosophy, politics and law, said that the organization’s mission is to help both students and the broader community through its work.

“Given the current presidential administration’s immigration and detainment policies and procedures, providing both students and faculty with a training session to ensure that they fully understand their rights should they encounter immigration enforcement is critical to supporting our community,” Connors wrote. “More specifically, a group of students within our organization recently wrote a policy that advocates for more resources and a stronger support system for students with various legal statuses.”

“This workshop directly supports their goal, which is to ensure that everyone on Binghamton’s campus has the resources and support that they need to feel safe and succeed,” she concluded.

Editor’s Note (4/24): This article was edited to correct Seraji’s pronouns. Pipe Dream regrets the error.