Columbia’s fall semester is beginning under an uneasy shadow of a possible National Guard deployment and an intensified campaign of Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests after Labor Day.
For many first-year students, the usual nerves of moving into dorms, finding classrooms and adjusting to independence are now compounded by fear of military presence on city streets and heightened deportation sweeps.
“It just doesn’t feel right to me,” said Trinity Will, a first-year film and television major. Will, who grew up in Chicago and is of Mexican descent, worried that her appearance alone could make her a target. “I just feel like I’m being discriminated against because of my skin color.”
Will is among several Columbia students the Chronicle interviewed in recent days who view the Trump administration’s actions as unnecessary and uncalled for.
For weeks, President Trump has threatened to send the National Guard to the streets of Chicago as part of his crackdown on undocumented immigration, homelessness and crime in heavily Democratic cities.
Over the Labor Day weekend, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed that the Trump administration will soon expand ICE operations in Chicago, but did not comment on the planned deployment of the National Guard.
In Washington D.C., the administration sent about 800 National Guard troops on Aug. 11, and the number has climbed to 2,300 as of Aug. 25.
If the Pentagon’s plans are approved, the deployment of troops would be against the objections of Illinois and city officials.
The planned operations also follow the Trump administration’s request to Naval Station Great Lakes, a military base about 35 miles north of downtown Chicago, for support on immigration operations.
No set date for a military deployment in Chicago has been announced, but the Chicago Sun-Times reported late last week that agents of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection would be housed at the station from Sept. 2 to Sept. 30 for a post-Labor Day deportation campaign.
Jianna Bell, a transfer student majoring in photography, said she feels scared about the possibility of the National Guard troops patrolling the streets of Chicago and is also curious to see what happens. She said she hopes that the presence of the National Guard won’t tip Chicago toward political unrest.
If the National Guard were to be deployed to the city, Bell said that it may not interfere with her semester as much, but also that it’s too early to tell.
“It’s crazy to see where society is going nowadays; anything could happen, honestly,” she said.
Daniel Williams, a part-time instructor who teaches political science in the School of Communication and Culture, said Trump views cities — not just Chicago — as having “chaos” and that it must be “eradicated” and brought under control.
Williams cited the work of Jane Jacobs, American-Canadian author and urbanist, and her idea of “strips of chaos in the city that should be respected:” the culmination of different people with different backgrounds and experiences colliding with each other, creating both harmony and conflict while trying to take up space.
To Williams, this is what is under attack.
“What that synthesis creates is what makes the city valuable,” he said. “You’re riding the L with people who are not fellow college students who have radically different ideas of what behavior on the L is appropriate. The value we get from that is what is at risk.”
The federal plans have been met with scorn from Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, both Democrats. Pritzker said in an Aug. 28 post on X that Trump’s actions are “illegal, unconstitutional and un-American.” Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling said at a recent press conference that the police will not assist with federal operations, but will also not stand in the way.
Johnson signed an executive order Saturday, Aug. 30, that aims to hold federal law enforcement under Chicago’s municipal rules on policing, keeping up to date with new deployments and informing Chicagoans of their rights.
Will, the first-year film and television major, said that the possible deployment of the National Guard in the city is “completely unnecessary” and that the Trump administration is using this as an intimidation plan against Chicago residents.
Will said that the presence of the National Guard would leave her feeling more intimidated than safe while she tries to experience everything that Columbia has to offer.
“The city is supposed to be an open city,” she said. “That’s the whole point of Columbia — you’re supposed to go explore the city, and it won’t feel safe to explore if they’re there, intimidating me and threatening me.”
Senior leadership and campus security at the college have been following updates on the possible deployment of troops and federal agents, according to Lambrini Lukidis, associate vice president of strategic communications and external relations.
“Columbia buildings are considered private property, and law enforcement will need to show a warrant or subpoena for a particular individual,” Lukidis told the Chronicle in an email. “Our security team is briefed to ask for such documentation and to contact managers within campus security and the Office of the General Counsel.”
Ethan Buckley, a first-year illustration major, said that the possible deployment is “a major overstep” by the federal government and that the city already has law enforcement in place to deal with crime.
Though having complicated feelings around the issues of immigration, Buckley vocalized his frustration that the process of citizenship is too slow and “it doesn’t actually help anyone,” saying that his family knew a group of immigrants on work visas who had spent 10 years trying to acquire citizenship.
“I don’t think that Border Patrol or ICE should be coming here to solve that problem,” Buckley said. “This is an issue much more internalized within the system than it is within any location in particular.”
Though she wasn’t up to date with how Illinois and city officials were responding to Trump’s planned crackdown, Bell is proud that they are standing up to Trump’s actions and not letting the administration try to take over Chicago.
“I know Trump is trying to come to colleges, too, and trying to push back on DEI and all of that,” she said. “So I’m just glad they’re standing up for the city.”
Copy edited by Vanessa Orozco
Resumen En Español
La llegada posible de la Guardia Nacional y una campaña más intensa de ICE tiene a muchos en Columbia con preocupación.
Chicago Sun Times ha reportado que los agentes van a ser estacionados en la base militar Naval Station Great Lakes, que está a 35 millas norte del centro de Chicago, desde el 2 de septiembre hasta el 30 de septiembre.
El gobernador del estado, JB Pritzker, ha dicho que las acciones de la administración del Presidente Trump son ilegales y van contra la constitución.
El alcalde de Chicago, Brandon Johnson, firmó un orden ejecutivo que mantendrá a las autoridades federales bajo las pólizas municipales.
El colegio está siguiendo actualizaciones y la seguridad de la escuela ha sido informada sobre el protocolo a seguir si las autoridades entran al colegio.
Resumen En Español Por Uriel Reyes
