MAP: Schools cave to 'sanctuary campus' demands

Donald Trump hasn’t even been sworn in yet, but hundreds of universities and colleges are already trying to shield illegal immigrants from his expected deportation policies.

Campus Reform reported last week that nearly 100 university and college presidents had signed on to an open letter urging the new administration to keep and expand President Barack Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which has been preventing some deportations. The number of signatories has grown to more than 250, and counting, as of press time.

“This is both a moral imperative and a national necessity,” the letter proclaims. “America needs talent—and these students, who have been raised and educated in the United States, are already part of our national community.”

The letter sprang up after students around the country led a national “walkout” to demand that their universities be labeled sanctuary campuses for illegal immigrants, while others signed petitions to the same effect.

The attached map highlights the locations where students have signed sanctuary campus petitions and participated in walkouts (blue pins), as well as identifying the universities that have acceded to the demands in various ways (red checkmarks).

Both are represented throughout much of the country, but the Northeast and the Pacific Coast are particular hotbeds for sanctuary campus demands.

As protest organizers have privately noted, however, colleges and universities do not actually have the authority to ban federal immigration enforcement agencies from campus, and must rely on intimidation tactics to dissuade them from attempting to deport illegal immigrant students.

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