On Jan. 21, 2025 the Acting Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Benjamine Huffman announced a directive that schools and religious spaces are no longer protected from immigration law enforcement activities. This directive overturned a 2021 memorandum that stated schools, healthcare facilities, places of worship and social services establishments were protected spaces where immigration law enforcement operations should not be carried out.
A spokesperson from DHS voiced the Trump administration’s reasons for implementing these two directives in contrast to the immigration policy of the former Biden administration.
“Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest. The Trump Administration will not tie the hands of our brave law enforcement and instead trusts them to use common sense,” the spokesperson wrote.
Additionally, President Donald J. Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 29 directing the development of measures to address complaints of antisemitism on college campuses and to help universities “monitor” international students for potential criminal or terrorist activity.
In a memo, published on Jan. 30, President Trump stated, “To all the resident aliens who joined in the pro-jihadist protests, we put you on notice: come 2025, we will find you, and we will deport you. I will also quickly cancel the student visas of all Hamas sympathizers on college campuses, which have been infested with radicalism like never before.”
In an email to The News-Letter, a University spokesperson responded to several questions regarding the impact of these new directives on students and life on campus.
While they noted that many areas within Hopkins and its various campuses are open to the public and thus open to law enforcement officers, including U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), some spaces are not open, requiring officials to obtain a legal documentation in order to enter.
“These include areas where JHU/JHHS identification is required for entry; for example, some clinical spaces, administrative and faculty offices, classrooms, residence halls and other restricted areas and buildings,” the spokesperson wrote. “Federal law enforcement officers are not authorized to access these non-public areas without meeting certain legal requirements, such as pursuant to a valid warrant or court order.”
The administration also stressed that the Johns Hopkins Police Department (JHPD), a newly implemented police force on campus, will not work with federal immigration officers as this is beyond their scope.
“JHPD officers are not immigration officials,” the spokesperson wrote. “As our policy states: ‘The enforcement of civil federal immigration laws falls exclusively within the authority of ICE officials.’”
The spokesperson provided a link to JHPD policies to underscore the restricted jurisdiction of these officers, as well as a link to their specific policy on noncitizen interactions.
They also noted that international members of the Hopkins community, including students, staff and faculty can seek support from the Hopkins Office of International Services (OIS).
OIS is currently monitoring changes in immigration and border policy that can impact the international community at Hopkins.
“The university and OIS are actively monitoring changes in U.S. immigration and border policies that could have an impact on JHU’s community,” an announcement on the OIS website reads. “It is not yet clear what the impact of many of these policy changes will be, and it may take time for federal agencies to determine how they plan to operationalize new directives.”
The office also stated that, if someone needs legal assistance, OIS has compiled related resources and that public safety concerns should be directed to Johns Hopkins Public Safety.
Shirlene John contributed writing for this article.
