CINCINNATI — President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill looks to give roughly $150 billion to his mass deportation agenda, according to ABC News.
With Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity increasing across the U.S., ACLU Ohio is urging public colleges and universities to reject working with ICE on their campuses.
The organization sent a letter to all public university and college presidents in the state telling them to be aware that their school has “no legal obligation to enter into 287G or similar agreements, or to conduct immigration enforcement on behalf of the federal government.”
The letter also states that “much of the government’s enforcement has been unlawful.” Specifically, when it comes to international student visas.
“Earlier in the year, ICE started revoking … visas without notice,” said Cincinnati immigration attorney Neil Fleischer. “And they have stopped doing that because courts have stopped them from doing it.”
WATCH: Why one immigration lawyer thinks schools may be forced into working with ICE
I asked Fleischer what legal responsibilities public universities and colleges have when it comes to ICE and cooperating with them.
“If we’re talking about 287G … it’s voluntary, so they don’t have to cooperate or enter these agreements with the federal government,” said Fleischer.
The 287G agreement allows local law enforcement to enforce federal immigration laws as ICE does. Fleischer said he is not aware of any Ohio schools that currently have this agreement with the federal government, but says schools may be forced into agreements.
“It’s possible that if these universities decline to enforce immigration law, which is not required, it’s possible that the federal government will go after the accreditation for the school like they did with Harvard,” said Fleischer.
Despite Fleischer’s belief that schools may be pressured into working with ICE, some students want to see their schools fight against ICE.
“I wouldn’t want to see that,” said UC student Cara Rose. “I feel there’s a lot of negative stigma around ICE right now, so I feel if I were to see ICE on campus, I just wouldn’t feel like it would be for a good reason.”
I reached out to ACLU Ohio for an interview about the letter, but have not heard back.
I also asked Miami University and the University of Cincinnati if they work with ICE, and what their process is if and when ICE asks for participation. At this time, I am still waiting to hear back. If I receive a response, we will update this article.
