Over 100 undergraduates, graduates, faculty and community members packed into the Willard Straight Hall memorial room to show support for Resolution 37, “Protecting Immigrant Students,” at Thursday’s Student Assembly meeting. The legislation, which passed with two abstentions, seeks to increase protections for students who are undocumented, international, Deferred Action Childhood Arrivals, refugees and other immigrants at Cornell.
This resolution comes amid concerns for the safety of international students following numerous executive orders issued by the Trump administration, statements by the University to international students regarding possible immigration changes in 2025 and the recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid that occurred in Ithaca.
The University addressed these concerns in two emails, on Jan. 28 and on Feb. 21, assuring students that the University “remains committed to continuing its support of all members of the University community,” but also remains committed to following the law.
However, many students, including the Cornell Progressives, felt this was insufficient support. With this resolution, students called upon the University to take more action.
“Cornell’s administration has put out a number of statements in the last couple of weeks since the new administration took office, but we want to see the protections that they’ve promised enacted in permanent policy,” said Adriana Vink ’27, co-outreach chair of The Cornell Progressives and an author of Resolution 37, in an interview with the Sun.
At the S.A. meeting, representatives from numerous student organizations came to express their support for the resolution. This included Asian Pacific Americans for Action, International Students Association, Latinx Association of Pre-Laws, Native American and Indigenous Students and many others.
Students hold up signs to support Resolution 37, which calls for increased protection for immigrant students. (Avery Wang/Sun Senior Writer)
One of the main recommendations in Resolution 37 is for the University to implement annual mandatory “Know Your Rights” training for Cornell students during first-year orientation, providing them with the proper language to address ICE. Additionally, training would be given to inform the Cornell University Police Department and University faculty and staff on “proper conduct” when engaging with ICE requests, according to the resolution.
The resolution also urges the University to ensure that punishment to international students who break the code of conduct should not put their visa at risk of cancellation. This comes after concerns last fall surrounding the suspension and risk of deportation of graduate student Momodou Taal, who was suspended for involvement in the Sept. 18 career fair disruption featuring defense contractors Boeing and L3Harris.
According to the resolution, this training seeks to clarify that members of the Cornell community are not required to grant permission to search Cornell premises or Cornell records, answer any questions by ICE or external law enforcement officials or accept any search warrants without first consulting with CUPD and/or the Office of the General Counsel.
Another goal within Resolution 37 is introducing the Welcome Corps on Campus initiative. The WCC is designed for universities to “play a leading role in resettling refugee students,” according to the resolution.
The WCC is under the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program. Through this program, refugees are able to enroll in undergraduate programs and legally live in the United States. These students are also able to receive financial aid from the federal government and have the right to work.
Another demand from Resolution 37 is that if Cornell community members are “targeted for deportation,” then the University should provide “free legal immigration assistance,” according to the resolution. This includes a call for the University to always provide international students with access to legal representation from the Immigration Law and Advocacy Clinic.
Adam Vinson’25, executive vice president of the S.A. and an author of the resolution, expressed hope that the administration would consider and implement the points in the resolution.
“The University doesn’t always accept [resolutions] because, at the end of the day, we are doing a recommendation. But the student body has gathered around this issue, and they support us on this,” Vinson said. “They’re with us and we’re with them. So I think it would be kind of a betrayal for the administration to not take at least some of these points in.”
Ultimately, Vinson wants the Cornell immigrant community to know that “the Student Assembly has [their] back.”
Yihun Stith ’26, co-outreach Chair for the Cornell Progressives and one of the authors of Resolution 37, shared the experience of an international student refusing to sign their name in support of the resolution despite agreeing with its sentiment. According to Stith, immigrants on campus hesitate to share their political opinions for fear of facing reparations such as deportation.
“I think that is very indicative to me that many international students here are scared to protest, to demonstrate [or] to show some type of resistance,” Stith said.
The S.A. also passed Resolution 36, which “condemns specific actions recently taken by the Federal Government,” according to the resolution. The resolution addresses cuts to research funding and DEI on college campuses and enumerates concerns regarding the Trump administration’s withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accords and the World Health Organization.
“Cornell’s motto is ‘Any person, Any study,’” said Ameera Aftab ’26, minority students liaison at-large for the S.A. “I feel like it’s times like this where we have to put the emphasis on the ‘any’and as representatives on the S.A., it’s our job to make sure that we’re representing all students on campus regardless of their immigration status or their citizenship status.”
The Cornell community now awaits to see how the University will respond to this newly passed resolution.
Hope Thomas ’27 is a Sun contributor and can be reached at ht496@cornell.edu.
Kate Turk ’27 contributed reporting.
