Update: This story was updated after a federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration from terminating a program allowing residents of Haiti to legally live and work in the United States.
As concerns and conversations over immigration crackdowns continue in Ohio and nationwide, few of the state’s 14 public universities are publicly sharing information about what faculty, staff and students should do if federal immigration agents appear on a campus.
Ohio University, Ohio State University and the University of Toledo are among those that do offer easily accessible guidance online.
Institutions vary in how much detail they share publicly. But each emphasizes several common threads, including the need to immediately contact the university police department and/or its legal affairs department.
Ohio State’s advice is the most in-depth. It offers examples of warrants law enforcement officials may present as well as talking points to use if approached by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer.
Last week, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said he was preparing for a potential increase of federal immigration officials in Southwestern Ohio. A federal judge late Monday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from terminating a program allowing residents of Haiti to legally live and work in the United States. An estimated 10,000 to 15,000 Haitians reside in the city of Springfield.
Officials at Clark State College, the city’s only public higher education institution, did not respond to Signal Ohio’s request for information about the community college’s immigration protocols. Neither did Wright State University, located about 30 minutes away in Dayton.
This silence is a contrast from places such as Illinois. State lawmakers there recently signed a law requiring public higher education institutions to develop immigration-related procedures and post know-your-rights resources and campus points of contact on their websites. The U.S. Department of Justice calls the move unconstitutional and is currently suing the state over the new rules.
Cleveland State shares updated immigration guidance via email
Even if Ohio’s campus leaders aren’t posting information online, administrators may be sharing directions behind the scenes.
That’s what Cleveland State University officials did on Jan. 27. A department within the university’s public affairs college shared a multi-step guide titled “What To Do if Federal Immigration Officials Visit Campus,” according to an email reviewed by Signal Ohio.
The document described immigration visits as ranging from “routine in nature” (providing an example of officials wanting to confirm information in the online federal database that tracks international student records) to “uncommon” (such as an international student or employee “allegedly involved in a criminal or national security matter”) to “something in between.”
Employees were instructed to be “calm and professional” if they crossed paths with federal officials on campus, according to the guidance.
The document went on to advise employees to direct officials to the general counsel’s office, refrain from providing them with information and avoid accepting or signing any documents. The directions also advised employees not to discuss or post anything about an interaction on social media.
The document noted it was last updated in February 2025. That’s around the same time the Trump administration was revoking – before later reinstating – visas of international college students across the country.
Two days after sending that first message, Cleveland State officials shared new guidance on Jan. 29, according to another email reviewed by Signal Ohio. The revised guidance closely matched the first iteration — but added a new bullet point.
“Campus community members should never physically interfere with an enforcement action or do anything to put themselves in physical danger, even if they believe that the government official does not have the lawful right to enter the area without a warrant or consent,” it read.
Defining public spaces on public universities
Many parts of state-supported university campuses are open to the public. That means federal officials – and others – can be in places such as student unions, libraries and outdoor spaces during normal business hours.
“Areas where any member of the public may normally enter and freely move around without having their presence questioned would typically be considered a public area,” Ohio State officials wrote.
Some locations, though, are off-limits without a warrant. Ohio University defines those as any university-owned building requiring a university ID or keyfob to enter, including faculty offices, laboratories and residence halls.
Cleveland State’s refreshed guidance included additional context about spaces that may be unlocked during work hours but “are still not considered public due to their function and need for privacy, safety, and operational needs,” such as classrooms in use and locker rooms.
