Student activist organizations at the University of Wisconsin are recirculating a petition with demands to make campus grounds a sanctuary space from Immigrations and Customs Enforcement and to reaffirm students’ freedom of expression after federal agents surged the Twin Cities.

The petition demands that UW label buildings to clearly indicate whether ICE has access to a space without a warrant, retract Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin’s public position statement, reaffirm the UW Police Department’s immigration enforcement policy and return to the previous UW protest guidelines.

The petition was initially created by Young Democratic Socialists of America UW-Madison after Palestinian activist and Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil was illegally detained by Department of Homeland Security agents, according to YDSA co-chair Emerson Shaw.

“[YDSA] were focused on both having the university protect immigrant and international students from ICE, but also specifically protecting student protesters and free speech,” Shaw said. “Over the course of the year, our focus has shifted more to protections from immigration enforcement.”

There has been one confirmed instance of ICE presence in the city of Madison since President Donald Trump announced plans for mass deportations shortly after his inauguration, according to the Wisconsin Examiner.

There have been many false reports of ICE sightings throughout Wisconsin since Trump’s inauguration, though, adding to fear, according to immigrants’ rights organization Voces de la Frontera.

“The goal is to be ready when ICE does come to Madison,” Shaw said. “There are some organizers in YDSA who are from Minneapolis who spent their winter break there and … the best strategy to defend against ICE and defend the community is a strategy of being able to respond to ICE activity quickly.”

There is currently no indication that ICE operations will target Madison, according to The Isthmus as of Jan. 28. To report a potential ICE sighting in Wisconsin, Voces recommends calling their hotline, available in both English and Spanish at +1 (800) 427-0213.

The petition and its demands were heavily promoted by speakers at a rally held Jan. 27 in response to ICE agents killing Alex Pretti, a Minneapolis resident, according to CNN.

Madison Students for a Democratic Society co-chair Bradley Keenan led chants demanding a university shutdown if the administration does not capitulate to their request to establish sanctuary status on UW grounds throughout the rally, which the group organized.

“If [the university administration is] too afraid of the Trump administration to create a sanctuary campus, if they’re afraid of pushback from the federal government, the only way to overwhelm that base reluctance is to do something that puts more pressure on them than a petition alone,” Shaw said.

YDSA was involved in a protest against UW’s investments in Israel and the suspension of Students for Justice in Palestine and its members’ arrests during the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents meeting in December 2024 that resulted in 19 arrests, according to previous reporting from The Badger Herald.

The student activist arrests arose from a twelve-day-long pro-Palestine encampment on Library Mall at the end of the spring 2024 semester, according to previous reporting from The Badger Herald.

The encampment led to the suspension of SJP that October and a now-closed investigation into YDSA over the summer of 2024 for violations of organizational rules of conduct, according to UW News.

“YDSA participated in the Board of Regents protest [past December] as well, which puts us in a precarious position in doing more disruptive action,” Shaw said. “So it’s an active conversation about what can happen and what must happen. We don’t have a specific decision of what we want to do yet.”

YDSA is unsure how it would proceed with the groups’ calls to shut the campus down if the administration rejects establishing sanctuary status at this time, Shaw said.

YDSA has not had a formal conversation with the UW administration about their demands at this time, according to Shaw.

Assistant Vice Chancellor of Public Affairs John Lucas said he was not familiar with the petition in an email statement.

“The closest thing we got [to a conversation] was at the ASM open forum last semester,” Shaw said. “Someone asked Mnookin directly about noncooperation with immigration enforcement, and I believe her response is that there isn’t anything the university can do if ICE had legal justification or a warrant for being there.”

UW posted a guidance page Jan. 19 regarding federal immigration actions, committing to keep its community informed about how to navigate immigration enforcement and to keep the immigration status of its students or employees confidential.

The webpage recommends students call its Office of Legal Affairs, which is available 24/7, in the event of contact with ICE agents, and to not give consent to federal agents requesting entry into a private space. It defines what constitutes a private space and what is considered public for federal agents to enter, as well.

MSDS’s other co-chair Luca Motivala said he would prefer to see the Wisconsin legislature enact legal ramifications against ICE agents operating on UW grounds.

“Sanctuary status, as far as the law goes, is just a term for a city. It doesn’t actually stop them from coming here and kidnapping our students,” Motivala said. “So we’re going to make sure that at least there’s something holding them accountable legally we can fight them with.”

For students looking to get involved after signing the petition, Motivala and Shaw recommend attending “Know Your Rights” trainings held around campus on what to do when encountering ICE and at a protest.

The city of Madison also has a “Know Your Rights” webpage dedicated to community resources such as legal centers and the Madison Police Department’s policy of not arresting, detaining or investigating anyone solely on the basis of immigration status.

MSDS will also make a quick-response kit for ICE sightings available to students soon, according to Motivala.

“Check social media accounts of any of the groups organizing on campus around a sanctuary campus and around protecting immigrants,” Shaw said. “If you would like to get involved with planning action further, I would recommend getting involved with any of these orgs specifically.”