What to do if Federal Immigration Immigration Officials Visit Campus

This protocol reflects consideration of the legal requirements regarding compliance with government subpoenas and other official government agency information requests, as well as consideration of individual rights to privacy. All University employees are expected to abide by this protocol.

As you may have seen in recent news reports, the Trump administration has issued a series of executive orders that seek to increase enforcement of undocumented foreign nationals. The United States government, through certain federal agencies, may attempt to contact University employees for immigration-related information about a particular student, staff or faculty member. The purpose of the inquiry could be routine in nature (for example, confirming information in the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVIS) database, as required to maintain immigration status) or uncommon (international student, staff or faculty member allegedly involved in a criminal or national security matter), or something in between. CSU will promptly review and timely respond to any such requests following legal review.

If a federal agent (FBI, DHS, ICE, etc.) arrives with a request or warrant, follow these steps:

1. Stay calm and professional. Ask for the agent’s name, agency and purpose of visit. Be polite, but do not provide information.
2. Direct them to the Office of General Counsel (Parker Hannifin Administration Center). Say: “Cleveland State University requires all legal requests to go through our Office of General Counsel. Please visit Parker Hannifin Administration Center Suite 327 for review.” You may also call the Office of General Counsel at 216-687-3543. If this occurs during non-business hours, please contact the CSU PD at 216-687-2020.
3. Do not accept or sign any documents yourself.
4. Do not discuss the request with others or post about it on social media.
5. Do not grant access to records or offices without authorization from the Office of General Counsel.

Campus community members should never physically interfere with an enforcement action or do anything to put themselves in physical danger, even if they believe that the government official does not have the lawful right to enter the area without a warrant or consent. Contact the CSU Police Department and Office of General Counsel.

Public Spaces on Campus

• ICE agents and all other law enforcement have the legal right to enter public portions of the University. Public spaces include, for example, the library, public restrooms, restaurants, the bookstore, all outdoor spaces and all other portions of CSU facilities that are open to the public during business hours.
• Law enforcement may not enter non-public spaces without: a) an appropriate warrant, or b) permission from a CSU employee — accordingly do not grant such permission without authorization by the Office of General Counsel. Non-public spaces include areas of campus that are locked and require key/ID card access, like staff break rooms, locked laboratories and residence hall rooms. Additionally, some spaces may be left unlocked during work hours but are still not considered public due to their function and need for privacy, safety and operational needs. These limited access spaces are areas such as faculty and staff offices, classrooms in session and locker rooms.
• If ICE agents or other law enforcement visit a public area of any CSU facility and takes a person(s) into custody, CSU employees should not intervene in any way. Action taken to intervene in an arrest or to assist someone in evading arrest could be viewed by law enforcement as obstruction of justice or harboring an undocumented immigrant, both of which are serious criminal offenses.

Updated: January 2026
*Subject to further revision