As Trump’s second term renders federal immigration policy and enforcement uncertain and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers have been spotted in raids across the country, including ten miles away in Philadelphia, Swarthmore’s sanctuary status continues to be reevaluated and discussed. The sanctuary designation was declared in 2016 by President Val Smith, meaning the college would support all students enjoying “full membership in the community,” regardless of immigration status. The declaration has no legal significance but is a pledge to not volunteer information or access to ICE, nor to use E-Verify, which checks work eligibility in the U.S.
“Swarthmore has a proud history of commitment to social justice, civil liberties, diversity, and the protection and inclusion of groups subjected to acts that threaten their freedom and safety,” the 2016 statement read. “Our Quaker heritage provides us with a long tradition of nonviolent action and peaceful protest against repressive government acts and mandates … At this moment, when there is a rising national rhetoric of intolerance and acts of hate that threaten people of color, Muslims, LGBTQ individuals, Jews, women, and immigrants, among others, we affirm our protection of these groups, and we affirm our intention to support all students in their quest to pursue their education without government interference.”
The declaration came after a wave of protest at the time, including a demonstration with three hundred people in front of Parrish Hall and a petition signed by 2,000 more calling for Swarthmore to become a sanctuary campus. It also established a working group to continue research, which published a 2017 report advocating for a broader view of sanctuary that includes access to academic and social resources regardless of status.
In 2018, there was another burst of off-campus activity around sanctuary, including a symposium of four courses across Political Science, Peace and Conflict Studies, Educational Studies, and English Literature. Elaine Allard, an educational studies professor who researches immigration status impact on K-12 students, taught one of those courses and was later approached by two students hoping to revitalize the working group’s efforts after its disbandment. They were concerned about the lack of research opportunities for undocumented students who could not get hired without work authorization due to federal policy.
“Students were really annoyed that the general orientation towards supporting them seemed to make them invisible [and] to protect them by making them blend in,” Allard said in an interview with The Phoenix. “But what happens when you do that is the resources aren’t necessarily transparent to them. They don’t feel like anybody knows anything about their experience.”
She says students who had been on campus for the 2016 protest and sanctuary declaration felt it led to changes in making the struggles of undocumented students visible: “Putting that statement out really changed things, because it catalyzed people to say, ‘Okay, what can I do for my students?’” However, student and faculty/staff turnover made it difficult to maintain momentum in the ensuing years.
Starting in spring 2020, the reformed Sanctuary Committee worked to highlight alternative opportunities for undocumented students. They also hosted the first in a now-continuing series of conferences, SUCCESS, which the Presidents Alliance for Immigration and Higher Education puts on annually alongside other immigrant-rights groups, Immigrants Rising and TheDream.US. At that first meeting, members of the Sanctuary Committee saw that less wealthy schools were in many cases offering more services for undocumented students, though Swarthmore was among the most generous in its financial aid. Afterwards, the Committee developed a website highlighting available resources.
From 2020 to 2024, the Committee recognized the unlikely probability of arrests on Swarthmore’s campus, and focused less on protection and more on recognition and resources. Then, after the 2024 presidential election, priorities changed.
“With the threats that we have to immigrant communities across the country, it seems important to focus again on protection for vulnerable students, ” Allard said. “We’re still trying to figure out what exactly that means this year.”
Members of the Committee have restarted Know Your Rights training that was previously hosted in 2016 to teach community members the difference between public and private spaces and what they have to tell ICE agents if approached or receiving data requests. Allard pointed to two phrases in President Smith’s recent email on Feb. 12 that broke the silence on national policies’ impacts on Swarthmore.
“Let me state unequivocally that the College remains committed to doing everything within its power and to the fullest extent of the law to protect the safety and well-being of our community members,” Smith wrote. “We are closely monitoring this rapidly evolving landscape and working to ensure we anticipate, plan for, and react to these changes and proposals.”
Allard said “everything within our power” and “to the fullest extent of the law” have become the two edges that can delineate the Sanctuary Committee’s work, as it strives to protect and support students while complying with federal law. Within those two bookends, there have been discussions about how much information the committee should widely share while keeping vulnerable students out of the spotlight. As these discussions are ongoing, the college’s legal team has been attending briefings on the national policy situation, and learning from other colleges about what they are doing.
“I think they’re still figuring it out, and we’re trying to help,” Allard said. “What are the best ways to get these messages out to the whole campus community without alarming people? Because that’s the other thing: we have no idea exactly what’s going to happen. So while we want to be prepared, we also realize it’s important not to panic.”
There have been no raids on college campuses as of the date of publication. As higher education leaders wait to see if these will happen, Allard hopes to continue providing resources – including helping students to find available opportunities and to prepare for post-graduate futures and support to students.
“One of the things that the President’s Alliance said in the last webinar I went to was that working groups like ours have to continue providing students with holistic services,” Allard said. “It can’t only be about Know Your Rights training. Students still have lives to lead, and we still want to support them in achieving their goals, just as we do all of our students.”
Allard believes there is power in numbers, and points to the establishment of the President’s Alliance in 2017 as helpful for spreading communication among colleges: “Having the convening here and hearing from some of the other schools about what they’re able to do was really inspiring. I think it offered some space for administrators to be like, ‘Oh, we could actually go a little bit further in what we’re able to offer.’”
Pointing to the history of Quakers as leaders in sanctuary movements, Allard suggests it would be encouraging for Swarthmore leaders to speak out in support of undocumented students. She also said that the community can learn from larger movements, including the New Sanctuary Movement based in Philadelphia and the original Sanctuary Movement that began in the 1980s.
If students want to get involved, they can learn more about what differentiates a private and public space in the event of ICE agents on campus, since ICE is only permitted to carry out enforcement actions in public spaces in most cases. A public space, Allard says, is broadly understood as anywhere a dog walker or town resident could enter without being questioned, such as Parrish Parlors or the Dining Hall. A private space, such as a dorm or private office, can also be considered public if a door is propped open. “So another recommendation I have heard is to clearly mark private spaces with signage that says something like, ‘This is a private space. Swarthmore students, faculty, and staff only.’” Allard says students who want to get involved, learn more, or who need resources, can reach out to anyone listed on the Sanctuary Committee website or contact Lesley Reyes Pina, the undocumented student advisor at the International Student Center. They can also attend events being planned on the topic or a Know Your Rights training, or take a course on sanctuary and immigration.
