Immigration Enforcement

HB 1312, enacted in 2025, is a new Illinois law that provides protections for students, employees, and visitors during civil immigration enforcement. This page, as well as Institutional Procedure 03.20.01 Responding to Immigration Enforcement Activities outlines steps for IVCC faculty and staff to follow if Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents come to campus. This information and resource is not legal advice, but rather guiding principles to ensure legal compliance while protecting the rights and privacy of students, staff and faculty.

For additional resources, please check out illinoisimmigrationinfo.org.

In response to recent federal executive orders and directives related to immigration enforcement, this internal procedure is meant to provide a framework for personnel, including frontline administrative and security personnel, to respond to inquiries regarding the immigration status of students and employees. It provides a recommended protocol and script for responding to inquiries from officials or entities such as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) as well as inquiries from students, parents, employees, and other individuals.

Student education records, including those related to immigration status and/or enrollment status, are confidential and shall not be released other than as required by law or as authorized by the student. College administrators may not inquire about or disclose, if known, a student’s or their family member’s immigration status. If the College receives any inquiries regarding the immigration status of employees, the College is prohibited from disclosing such information

Immigration Access to Public versus Limited Access Areas on Campus

As a public community college, Illinois Valley Community College (IVCC) welcomes the public to a significant portion of its campus. However, access is restricted or limited in areas due to privacy concerns, operational needs or safety considerations. Federal immigration enforcement officers are subject to these same access restrictions and must adhere to College protocols when entering non-public spaces.

It is important to note that ICE or federal Department of Homeland Security officials may be on campus for reasons unrelated to enforcement actions such as career recruitment events and guest lectures.

IVCC Campus Protocol - ICE Visits

With the Police Academy on campus, it is much more commonplace to have non-local law enforcement on campus. As a result, general questions may arise, but in the event that any non-local law enforcement or federal officers begin to inquire about SVCC students, faculty, staff, visiting scholars or guests, members of our campus community are asked to do the following:

Remain Calm and Professional

Stay composed to avoid escalating the situation.

  • Obtain Initial Information and contact the IVCC President’s Office
  • Staff should ask for the individual’s name and agency
  • Staff should then call the President’s Office at extension 402 and help the individuals find their way to C300
  • Do not accept any materials from the ICE agent(s).

Forward Email or Phone Inquiries

If you are contacted by an external party that is outside of your regular activities or interactions, via email or phone, requesting information about students, faculty or staff, please immediately forward that information to tracy_morris@ivcc.edu.

Recording Encounters with Immigration Enforcement

Following any encounter with immigration enforcement officials, the College will maintain a record of the encounter on the Immigration Enforcement Post-Encounter Record. These documents will be maintained in the President’s Office.