The surge of immigration control, through the deployment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in states and cities across America, has sparked concern amongst students on the Sam Houston State University campus.
Some SHSU students worry their safety is in jeopardy, knowing that ICE agents are actively making arrests in cities across Texas. Others express fear of violent interactions or unjust detainment when in public spaces.
“I don’t want them anywhere near our campus, ever,” SHSU freshman Theo Hill said. “It doesn’t matter if they came here legally, it doesn’t matter if they came here two generations ago. [People are at risk] just because of the fact that they are Hispanic, or even that they’re just brown.”
What’s Been Happening?
Through his second term, President Donald J. Trump has made the mass deportation of undocumented immigrants a focal point of his administration’s goals. He has shifted the government’s border and immigration enforcement to work inside the nation’s interior, sending ICE agents out to make high-profile deportations and detainments of alleged immigrants from within the states.
An article from the Texas Tribune states that as of May 2025, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) deported more than 500 people and arrested more than 400 suspected undocumented immigrants in a week, just in and around the city of Houston.
“Specifically in Texas, I think it’s really scary to see it so close,” freshman Blake Stedman said. “I know people who are Hispanic and I know people who are brown, and I fear for them a lot. It worries me a lot how this will impact the people that I care about.”
Order of Operation Changes
Leaked to the public on Jan. 21, a memo issued by ICE on May 12 authorized agents to enter the homes of those suspected of being in the U.S. illegally with an administrative warrant, not a judicial warrant signed by a judge.
Traditionally, ICE agents have needed a warrant signed by a judge in order to enter the home of someone suspected of being in the U.S. illegally. However, the May 12, 2025 memo (known as Form I-205) explains agents must “knock and announce” and state their purpose, but if they are refused admittance, they are authorized to use “only a necessary and reasonable amount of force to enter the alien’s residence.”
“It was really important when the constitution was being made that government officials can’t just come into your house and do whatever they want,” Stedman said. “It’s completely against American culture—something that I think they try to stand for.”
The Other Side
Within the ongoing debate, there are Texans who do not align themselves with those against ICE activity, and even those who find themselves somewhere between the two sides. A vast majority of Texas politicians believe ICE is necessary for the safety and security of our state and nation.
In November 2025, Houston Mayor John Whitmire confirmed Houston Police Department’s cooperation with ICE agents. However, President of the HPD Union Doug Griffith explains that there lies a difference between cooperation with ICE and assisting ICE arrests.
“If [a person is] wanted by any agency, no matter who it is, then we have to contact that agency and see if they want them,” Griffith said. “That goes for ICE or the FBI.”
Trump told NBC on Feb. 4 that, in light of the recent shooting in Minneapolis, the administration has learned to “use a little bit of a softer touch” when deporting immigrants and enforcing immigration controls, followed by reinstating they “still have to be tough” when “dealing with really hard criminals.”
Students who both support and oppose immigration enforcement within the states agree with the necessity for protecting citizens from criminals and harmful individuals, however many college students across Texas are split between where undocumented immigrants fall in those labels.
The Turning Point USA branch at SHSU did not respond to requests for comment as of this publishing.
