The Undergraduate Senate (UGS) debated a resolution at their Wednesday meeting to designate Stanford a sanctuary campus, which would prohibit the University from cooperating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) enforcement of federal immigration laws unless required by court order.

The resolution proposed prohibiting the use of University resources, including campus security and local law enforcement, to assist in federal immigration enforcement except when required by law. Another section calls for equal access to University resources, including housing, financial aid, legal support, to all students regardless of immigration status.

The UGS also unanimously passed a bill to support The Bridge Peer Counseling Center’s operational stability.

During President Trump’s first administration, the University affirmed a commitment to supporting all “students, faculty, staff and scholars” without “regard to their immigration status, religion, nationality, ethnicity or other characteristics.” The University has also supported the DREAM Act, which grants undocumented individuals who entered the U.S. as children conditional permanent residency, since its introduction in 2001.

On Jan. 20, Trump issued an executive order titled “Protecting the American People Against Invasion,” which seeks to expand federal detention and deportation efforts and penalize non-cooperation with federal immigration authorities. On Jan. 21, the Department of Homeland Security rescinded previous guidelines limiting ICE and CBP enforcement in or near schools, churches and hospitals. 

Following a spike in ICE arrests, the agency’s detention facilities reached 109% capacity with nearly 42,000 immigrant detainees, according to Feb. 4 Department of Homeland Security data.

California is currently considered a sanctuary state. California’s Senate Bill 54, which passed in Oct. 2017, limits state and local law enforcement agencies from cooperating with federal immigration enforcement, except in cases involving serious or violent felonies. Other institutions, including the University of Pennsylvania, Wesleyan University and Swarthmore College, designated themselves sanctuary campuses prior to Trump’s first presidency.

“The University’s silence on this issue is them being complicit in the fact that many students in recent weeks have feared deportation,” said Celeste Vargas ’27, UGS Chair of Health and Safety.

Resolution co-author and Graduate Student Council representative Artem Arzyn ’25 said that in a meeting with Provost Jenny Martinez, an undocumented student shared their struggle to find resources and a clear sense of support from the University. “And the answer to that effectively was, ‘We have the resources. You just have to look for them,’ after being explicitly told that students are struggling to find those resources,” Arzyn said.

“The university has a wide range of resources available to support our international students. We have worked to ensure that these resources are easily accessible through one central site.” Martinez wrote to The Daily in response to Arzyn’s comment. “With regard to resources for undocumented students, we have an entire site devoted to providing help and resources for them. This site includes information on how the university can facilitate scheduling a free consultation with an attorney through the Immigrants’ Rights Clinic of Stanford Law School.”

Parliamentarian Noah Maltzman ’25 said he was “afraid” that designating the campus a ‘sanctuary’ “could invite people who are not students to come here and harbor sanctuary away from ICE.”

Vargas called the argument “ridiculous,” saying, “I respect you, Noah. I honestly would consider you a friend. But the way that you have tried to argue the opposite side — it’s fear-mongering, it’s disrespectful, it’s outright wrong.”

Arzyn said that declaring Stanford a sanctuary campus would only reiterate California’s existing sanctuary state policies without bringing additional attention to campus.

Arzyn also plans to question Provost Martinez and President Jonathan Levin ’94 on the University’s stance toward cooperation with immigration enforcement, as well as possibly retaining a temporary position in the Office of Inclusion, Community and Integrative Learning currently focused on undocumented students.

The UGS expects to flesh out amendments to the resolution during a working session on Tuesday. The resolution passed unanimously in the Graduate Student Council on Feb. 3.

The UGS passed another bill to support The Bridge, which provides 24/7 anonymous peer counseling services to students. In 2024, approximately two-thirds of calls made to The Bridge occurred between 5 p.m. and 9 a.m., when other University mental health resources, including Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS), were closed. The Bridge has faced funding gaps and a possible relocation in recent weeks.

The bill affirmed the Associated Students of Stanford University’s support of the Bridge, demanded a stable and permanent location for the service, requested indefinite funding from the Department of Student Affairs for the Bridge and urged the University to recognize its importance.

This article has been updated to include Provost Jenny Martinez’s response to the Daily’s questions.