Last week, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, impersonating police officers searching for a missing child, arrested Columbia student Ellie Aghayeva in her dorm. Columbia University President Claire Shipman quickly updated the student body, explaining that the Department of Homeland Security Agents had no warrant, and that security footage showed the agents gaining access to the residential building with a poster of an alleged missing child. Following this arrest, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani dropped everything and flew to Washington, D.C., ultimately negotiating with Trump for Aghayeva’s release 10 hours later.
Despite this blatant violation of student safety, we’ve heard nothing from the Dartmouth administration. Last month, after rumors circulated on social media that ICE was sighted in the Upper Valley near campus, the only clarifying statement came from my fellow senators and me at student government. This week, following the arrest of Aghayeva, who was tricked and arrested in her dorm room by agents who did not have a warrant, we’ve yet again heard crickets from the Beilock administration.
I understand the argument for institutional neutrality regarding certain political beliefs, but what happened to Aghayeva wasn’t politics, it was kidnapping. Dartmouth’s international and domestic students alike are scared: how can we be productive members of a community where federal agents with assault rifles can illegally gain entry to our dorms and arrest us?
To assume we’re safe just because we’re in the middle of nowhere is foolish. New Hampshire falls in the 100-mile border zone, a national perimeter that allows Customs and Border Patrol to set up checkpoints and stop cars for “reasonable suspicion.” Additionally, Hanover lost its sanctuary city status earlier this year, leaving international students vulnerable to collaborations between ICE and local police. Just last week, a proposed ICE detention facility in Merrimack was ditched by the DHS, which sounds like a win until you consider why. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem has explained that the choice to abandon the facility stemmed from the fact that New Hampshire has already proved to be a “strong partner” when it comes to immigration enforcement. When Noem says a new ICE facility in our state would be redundant, you know we’re in trouble.
Whether or not Beilock has an obligation to take a stand on immigration enforcement is debatable, but she undeniably has an obligation to keep us safe. ICE agents breaking into dorms and arresting people isn’t a matter of politics but a matter of campus safety, and, frankly, the lack of reassurance and clarification from our administration leaves me deeply concerned.
Here in Hanover, we don’t have a Zohran who can fly to the White House and get one of our students released from detention in less than 10 hours. Instead, we have Beilock, who won’t even issue a statement condemning the arrest, let alone clarifying our rights as students on campus. What spaces on campus are federal agents allowed to enter? What should I do if they’re at my door? What does a valid judicial warrant look like? This isn’t a matter of politics — Beilock’s institutional restraint is irrelevant — it’s campus safety and it’s the bare minimum.
I’m worried that Dartmouth’s approach to prevention will reflect its approach to response. If the Beilock administration views a simple statement outlining student rights as unnecessary, how can we possibly expect them to come to the rescue if, or seemingly when, someone gets arrested? The incident at Columbia was tragic, but at least it elicited a strong response from Shipman and Mamdani. Immediately following the arrest, Shipman called the situation “utterly unacceptable” and rapidly updated the student body via email and video. Perhaps Beilock could scrape together a response as good as Shipman and Mamdani’s, but I doubt it. Her precedent of staying silent is a telling predictor for how she will approach any future campus arrests — at least those she doesn’t facilitate herself.
Dartmouth used to be better than this. Former President Phil Hanlon used to take strong stands against the Trump administration, protecting international students and fostering a community of principle and security. In a letter to various Dartmouth alumni in Congress, Hanlon called to preserve DACA, a piece of legislation that protects some international students from being deported. He wrote, “The undocumented members of our academic community are not only outstanding students, they are exceptional individuals who have persevered through unprecedented challenges in pursuit of excellence in higher learning with the goal of making positive contributions to society as future leaders in their fields.” It’s hard to capture how heartbreaking these words are next to Beilock’s silence.
My criticism of “institutional restraint” extends beyond the Columbia ICE arrest. The Beilock administration is dropping the ball during a time when the demand for good leadership is at an all-time high. I want assurance that I won’t wake up one day and learn that my international peer was arrested by ICE agents pretending to be Safety and Security. I want clarification on which campus spaces we should turn to in the event of an ICE raid. I want a timely statement from the College itself confirming whether or not ICE is nearby. It’s not too much to ask and it’s not politics — it’s campus safety.
Opinion articles represent the views of their author(s), which are not necessarily those of The Dartmouth.
