The reelection of former President Donald Trump on Nov. 5 renewed concerns among undocumented students on campus, who fear being directly affected by Trump’s stringent border policy promises. The Republican president-elect, who will be sworn in January, has highlighted immigration as a top priority on his agenda and stated that he will carry out mass deportations while in office.
“For many, election season is a period of stress, bringing to the surface intense fears, especially for undocumented students or those who have loved ones unfortunately affected by immigration policies,” wrote America Casanova ’26, social media coordinator and event programmer for the DREAM Team at Cornell, in a statement to the Sun.
The DREAM Team — named after the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act — is a student-run organization advocating for undocumented students and recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, a 2012 policy protecting individuals who entered the country as children from deportation.
The DREAM Team hosts events designed to provide undocumented and DACA students with practical knowledge and skills through financial literacy workshops and discussions about immigration.
Many members of the DREAM Team are undocumented themselves. Some, like Casanova, are DACA recipients. Casanova recalled the worry of deportation and the uncertainty surrounding the impacts of immigration policy during Trump’s first term.
“I vividly remember the fear as I watched the news, going to bed in tears, terrified that I might wake up to [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] agents at our door, coming to take my family and me away,” Casanova wrote. “This is not a unique experience — undocumented students and loved ones live this reality every day, facing the possibility that a change in policy could disrupt lives in an instant.”
Trump’s anti-immigration rhetoric and policy threats are a source of anxiety for many students, compounding the preexisting challenges some face in accessing healthcare insurance, financial aid and employment, according to Casanova.
“Students worry that increased raids and heightened enforcement could make it harder for them to feel safe on and off campus, once again disrupting their education and personal lives,” Casanova wrote.
However, according to Prof. Jaclyn Kelley-Widmer, law, it would be infeasible for the Trump administration to carry out deportations at the magnitude promised on the campaign trail.
“I think that the mass deportations are unrealistic logistically and legally for several reasons,” Kelley-Widmer said. “One is that there are about 11 million undocumented people in the U.S. And right now, the systems that we have wouldn't be able to accommodate a mass deportation.”
Kelley-Widmer said that other challenges the Trump administration might face include the cities and municipalities that would limit cooperation with ICE without violating federal law as self-proclaimed “sanctuary cities.” Further, deportation necessitates a lengthy legal process in an already overcrowded court system.
“It's not like there's some list of people who could automatically be deported if they were found,” Kelley-Widmer said. “Right now, the immigration court has a backlog of 3.7 million cases. So some of the people that Trump would seek to deport are in court right now and have a waiting time of four or five years before their cases can even be decided.”
In 2017, the Trump administration rescinded DACA, only for the decision to be overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2020. The legitimacy of the policy, which has faced years of legal challenges, will be decided again in an anticipated ruling by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. If the court decides again that DACA is unlawful, the case will go back to the Supreme Court.
“If the Supreme Court rules that DACA was unlawfully created, we'll expect to see the program likely ending, which means that those who have DACA will slowly lose their DACA status as their work authorization expires,” Kelley-Widmer said. “It's possible that work authorization and DACA status could be ended immediately, but it's more likely that the program will have a phase-out because every person's DACA status is valid for two years at a time, and they renew it at different times of [the] year.”
According to Kelley-Widmer, while the Trump administration could attempt to end DACA again, doing so might not be necessary given the fact that the policy is already being contested in the courts.
“I think it's less likely, both because it would result in more litigation from pro-DACA advocacy groups or because it's more likely the courts will just end DACA without Trump having to do anything,” Kelley-Widmer said. “I think that for DACA recipients, the best thing that they can do right now is prepare themselves for the end of DACA.”
Recipients of DACA do not need the documentation provided by the policy to study, but they do in order to work. Upperclassmen affected by the program are concerned about their ability to enter the workforce post-graduation as the future of DACA hangs in balance.
“They are uncertain about their future, wondering if the new administration will provide any support for work visas or even a path towards citizenship, or if these opportunities will become even more restricted,” Casanova wrote.
Kelley-Widmer recommends that recipients of DACA take precautions in anticipation of the policy’s potential discontinuation. One resource available to Cornell students is Path2Papers, a program Kelley-Widmer runs at the law school, which assists DACA students in acquiring legal permanent residency and provides legal assistance. DACA recipients can sign up for a free consultation.
“Even if [the end of DACA] is a year or more away, they should look into resources to get a consultation and learn what other options they might have,” Kelley-Widmer said.
Casanova hopes the University administration will take steps to ensure the safety and health of undocumented and DACA students, such as releasing a statement to put students’ minds at ease amid Trump’s deportation threats.
“It is very important that Cornell re-establish its status as a sanctuary campus and publicly commit to protecting its students from federal immigration enforcement,” Casanova wrote. “This could come in the form of a statement explicitly stating that they will not cooperate with ICE authorities, ensuring that students can continue their education without the fear of a deportation raid.”
Casanova also hopes that the University will consider providing more inclusive healthcare options for undocumented students, including scholarships to assist in healthcare affordability and expanding mental health services for students most affected by Trump’s immigration agenda.
After Trump’s first election victory in 2016, Interim President Hunter R. Rawlings III released a statement promising that the University would protect the privacy of undocumented students and confirming the continuation of need-based financial aid for DACA recipients.
The Sun asked a University spokesperson to confirm whether the assurances made by Rawlings eight years ago still apply as the country enters a second Trump presidency.
“Cornell remains committed to continuing its support of undocumented and DACA students and will protect their privacy and personal information from unauthorized or unlawful intrusion,” the spokesperson wrote in a statement to The Sun.
The spokesperson did not respond to The Sun’s questions about whether additional resources would be provided to support undocumented students’ mental health, whether DACA students’ financial aid eligibility will remain the same or whether the administration will release a statement addressing these concerns for the purpose of alleviating worry among students.
The DREAM Team aims to expand its network of support for undocumented students and DACA recipients by working with other Ivy League universities, including Brown University, to form a coalition of DREAM Teams.
“Cornell can be an incredibly isolating place, especially for undocumented students,” Casanova wrote. “These initiatives, we hope, aim to ensure that students know they are not alone and that they have a community behind them on campus and within the broader community, even if it does not feel as such.”
Maya Schmaling ’28 is a Sun contributor and can be reached at mes482@cornell.edu.
