Clara Ann Bagnoli ’28
Copy Editor Intern
Scripps College’s administration and Board of Trustees have yet to release a statement in response to President Donald Trump’s executive orders to enforce deportations of undocumented immigrants in line with his declaration of a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Trump’s rhetoric and executive orders have created uncertainty for undocumented students and may threaten universities’ abilities to act as sanctuary campuses — which is a college or university with policies to protect undocumented students from deportation.
The Trump administration’s attitude toward undocumented immigrants, as indicated in a statement from Acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Benjamine Huffman, called into question the validity of sanctuary spaces formerly seen as untouchable.
Scripps Senior Communications Manager Emily Peters said via email that the college is “monitoring the evolving legal implications of recent executive orders on our sanctuary campus status, and will share updates when the potential impact on our community becomes clearer.”
This is not the first time Trump administration policies have targeted undocumented immigrants. In Jan. 2016, Trump issued multiple executive orders to imprison and deport undocumented immigrants.
Following these orders, 750 students, faculty, alumni, and community members signed a petition requesting immigration status to be protected under Scripps’ Discrimination and Harassment Policy and recommending Scripps declare itself a sanctuary center of higher education.
The following month, former Scripps President Lara Tiedens wrote a statement regarding student concerns amidst the policy changes.
“In January, the Board of Trustees declared Scripps College a sanctuary center of higher education because we aim for our campus to be a sanctuary where students, faculty, and staff are free from fears of deportation or persecution,” Tiedens said. “I remind the community, and especially those who are most impacted by the decision out of Washington today, of the ways Scripps will support the members of our community who are most vulnerable to changes in immigration laws.”
In light of Trump’s current policies, Scripps administration has yet to confirm that they will continue to hold their precedent of protecting their undocumented and DACAmented students.
With raised concerns regarding new immigration policies, some students and campus groups asked administrators about Scripps’ status as a sanctuary campus and what that status entails during Scripps President Amy Marcus Newhall’s office hours.
One such student, who requested to remain anonymous due to safety concerns, explained that the lack of communication from Scripps about its sanctuary status is especially concerning given the increase in Campus Safety and private security presence at Scripps over the last semester.
“At the end of the day, campus security are the ones who deal with ICE and border control,” they said. “But they have been brutal in harassing students and faculty [so how are] we just supposed to blindly trust them to protect us?”
The anonymous student’s sentiment comes after a semester of heightened distrust amongst students towards Campus Safety, following their active participation in the arrests of 19 5C students on April 5 for their participation in a divestment sit-in at Pomona College.
Scripps, as a private institution, is not required to comply with an administrative arrest or removal warrant issued by DHS (Form I-200 or I-205), as it is not a judicial warrant and does not authorize DHS officers to enter private areas of a premises without consent. School officials would not be required to comply with agents seeking locations of specific individuals in private spaces on campus, such as a closed-door classroom or dorm hall. Notably, some Pitzer College professors are insisting on closed doors during class times for this reason.
On top of legal protection, Scripps politics professor Thomas Kim highlighted Scripps’ sociopolitical power as a more dominant deterrence of authorities.
“Homeland security could be armed and start asking questions but they won’t, not because it’s constitutionally not allowed but because it’s Scripps and there are easier targets with far less institutional privilege,” Kim said.
The Claremont Colleges have historically wielded political power in the face of government inquiry, as was the case in 2006 when two members of the Joint Task Force on Terrorism questioned former Pomona professor Miguel Tinker Salas. The visit was met with such harsh political backlash from the Claremont community that the FBI’s Los Angeles Office released an apology statement.
“The point wasn’t that what they did was illegal, it was that they were forced to apologize because politically the weight of the colleges was brought to bear,” Kim said.
However, Scripps could face consequences for not complying with federal orders, jeopardizing the college’s ability to receive funding from the federal government. Federal funding through grants is essential to providing funds for low-income students to attend Scripps.
Outside of legal protection, students are asking for the school to create a resource for financially supporting those impacted by the threat of border control, similar to the emergency fund established in the wake of wildfires in January.
“There has been so much organizing for the fires that happened but nothing for those impacted by border control, even though we’ve specifically asked for some sort of financial resource,” the anonymous student said. “People’s families feel fearful of going to work and school but they need groceries and need to pay their bills.”
The student expanded on how the 5C community should be showing up for one another during this time.
“No matter one’s positionality they do have a responsibility to act, even if you don’t know someone who is being targeted,” they said. “Southern California is built on exploited labor and everyone has a responsibility because everyone benefits from that.”
In the meantime, student groups are creating resources for knowing your rights. Chicano Latino Student Affairs, a Claremont Colleges Latino student affinity group, and IDEAS, a club dedicated to the immigrant experience at the Claremont Colleges, have compiled resources for undocumented students available through their Linktrees. Additionally, the Higher Education Immigration portal has links and explainers on how to access tuition help, legal representation, healthcare, employment opportunities, and graduate school opportunities.
Illustration Courtesy of Frances Walton ’26
