For undocumented students attending the College of Lake County, coming to class has been complicated with the mass deportation plans being implemented by the new White House administration, led by President Donald Trump. 

CLC is considered a Hispanic Serving Institution(HSI), with about 43% of the school’s population identifying as Hispanic. 

A student who asked to go unnamed said they fear what’s going to happen in the next few days let alone the next few years. 

“I’m scared of being targeted,” they said. “I’m a natural-born citizen, but some of my family are working on getting their citizenship approved. They’ve been working here for years, paying taxes, but are still undocumented”

At the end of the 2024 fall semester, CLC hired Salvador Rodriguez as the undocumented student resource adviser. Rodriguez has a 10-year history of helping undocumented students get the help they need.

“The main support that I provide to undocumented students is assisting with legal immigration and referrals,” Rodriguez said. “We have a partnership with North Suburban Legal Aid, who speak to our students regarding renewing Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), green card renewals, family based immigrant status, visa petitions, temporary protection status documentation, employment authorization renewals, asylum, and in some cases removal or deportation defense.”

Rodriguez urges the students who may be affected by the threats of mass deportation to be unafraid. 

“[CLC] is prepared to provide the best services they can,” Rodriguez said. “As allies, we are not afraid to support our undocumented students in any way possible.”

In a Jan 16. email to the Chronicle, CLC President Lori Suddick said higher education institutions are obligated to protect the identities of students and operate within their obligations to uphold existing laws to protect students and their privacy, as indicated in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). These protections apply to undocumented students as they do to other students.

“College of Lake County’s mission is to provide equitable high-quality education, cultural enrichment and partnerships to advance the diverse communities it serves,” Suddick said in the email. “The College achieves this mission through its values of excellence, purpose, integrity, compassion, unity and inclusion, as well as a steadfast commitment to upholding its diversity, equity, inclusion and anti-racism statements.” 

On Jan. 24, Suddick sent an all-college email listing resources students and others should be aware of. 

“The College is committed to providing education and support for all students and community members, no matter their immigration status,” Suddick said in the Jan. 24 email. “We are stronger together and united through our core values of excellence, purpose, integrity, compassion, unity and inclusion.”

How the mass deportation will be executed is still unclear. Trump’s newly appointed Border Czar Tom Homan said he wasn’t going to say where they would be going to round up undocumented immigrants, but they “can count on worksite enforcement coming back.” This implies that they would search places  of employment for immigrants working in the U.S. illegally. 

Depending on state and local laws, law enforcement can volunteer to assist in deporting undocumented immigrants. However, they would be required to use local funding to do so. In Illinois, no federal law compels law enforcement to assist or participate in any immigration enforcement actions.

For citizens looking to assist in the deportation, Homan said he is considering a hotline for people to report individuals.

“I want a place where American citizens can call and report,” Homan said. “We need to make sure that they have an outlet to help report child traffickers, force labor traffickers. We want to give an opportunity to be a part of the fix.”

The main body responsible for enforcing mass deportation would most likely be the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which enforces federal laws governing border control, customs, trade, and immigration.

ICE does not have unlimited power. It must abide by certain policies that govern where, how, and when it can conduct investigations. Since immigration violations are not criminal offenses, a judicial warrant cannot be used to enter someone’s home and arrest an individual for being undocumented.

In the past, ICE agents were restricted from entering certain protected areas. Places of worship, schools, and sites of public demonstrations, like parades or rallies, were deemed off limits. The only exception to the policy was if an individual posed a threat to others or if they had prior approval from certain Homeland Security Officials.  

Protected areas, however, are not protected by law. Each director of Homeland Security can determine their own policies. As of Jan. 20, the acting Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Benjamine Huffman replaced the Biden-era policy. According to a DHS press release, the new policy is meant to be “essential to ending the invasion of the US southern border and empower law enforcement to protect Americans.”