Amid the latest immigration executive orders, Queens College has reaffirmed its support for immigrant students by expanding legal resources and strengthening protections for undocumented and non-citizen students.
For over 30 years, CUNY Citizenship NOW! has been offering free, confidential legal services for immigrants. In 2024, it established an office at QC to assist students with visa and citizenship applications. As part of its continued commitment, the office, in collaboration with the Immigrant Student Support Initiative and QC’s Urban Studies program, organized a series of “Know Your Rights” workshops. The latest workshops, held on Feb. 5th and Feb. 18th, were led by an attorney from CUNY Citizenship NOW!. A session on Dec. 16, 2024, featured Assemblywoman Catalina Cruz and immigrants’ rights activist Enrique Peña Oropeza, an MA graduate in Urban Studies from QC.
In addition to these workshops, the Professional Staff Congress (PSC), the professors’ union, has organized sessions to help individuals understand their rights both on and off campus. To further support CUNY students and PSC members facing immigration-related threats, the PSC established the Immigrant Solidarity Working Group, which encourages community engagement and organizing.
QC students are acutely aware of the impact of current national politics, as many are directly affected. In response, they are actively sharing resources, exchanging knowledge, and providing mutual aid to support one another.
Undocumented and non-citizen students enrolled at CUNY are protected under the New York State Guidance on Safeguarding the Rights of Immigrant Students. Released in January, this report was issued by the New York State Department of Education in collaboration with the Office of the State Comptroller and the Office of Governor Kathy Hochul.
CUNY Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodriguez affirmed the university’s stance on these protections, stating, “We will continue to observe existing CUNY policy that requires a judicial warrant for any federal or local law enforcement official who comes to a campus seeking to make an arrest.”
“We are starting the semester amid concerns about changes in federal policies that are causing uncertainty for immigrants, members of the LGBTQ+ community, recipients of federal research grants and others,” Matos Rodriguez wrote in an email to students in January.
On Feb. 9th, Melissa Aviles-Ramos, Chancellor of the NYC DOE, reaffirmed protections for students, stating:
“As always, non-local law enforcement is NOT permitted in any of our school buildings without a judicial warrant or unless there are exigent circumstances.” Her statement came just days after Mayor Eric Adams issued an alarming memo to city agencies regarding the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The city’s most ethnically diverse borough, Queens has long faced heightened law enforcement activity. On local buses, newly posted advertisements for The Legal Aid Society remind residents of the increased surveillance and policing that affect immigrant communities.
Christi Tai Dean, an immigration and family attorney based in Jamaica, told The Knight News that nonprofit organizations, such as KIND, Safe Passage Project, and Hofstra Law School’s Youth Advocacy Clinic, are providing legal representation for immigrant children in court. Additionally, the Department of Justice lists pro bono legal service providers on its website, which are available to individuals in immigration court.New York City residents can visit weprotectusny.org for up-to-date resources on protecting themselves, their families, and their communities.
