New Orleans: Loyola Students confront university president about sanctuary campus policies

New Orleans, LA – A group of concerned students at Loyola University of New Orleans delivered a letter demanding more protections for immigrant students on Tuesday, February 10 to Loyola President Dr. Xavier Cole. The group of roughly 15 students caught the president on his way to a crowded campus event where the confrontation was seen by numerous community members.

The letter demands a series of concrete policies for Loyola to enact including: public communication about students’ rights on campus from ICE; signage prohibiting ICE from entering campus buildings without a warrant; an alert and lockdown system if ICE is confirmed on campus; no collaboration between the Loyola police department and ICE; no sharing of student information with ICE, and an option for virtual classes if ICE is spotted in the area.

“We are proposing these policies directly to the president and through every channel we can so that the administration knows how important it is that we protect our immigrant peers, faculty, and staff,” said Loyola student and Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) member Rosalina Framboise.

The university president shied away from directly addressing the proposed policies, following a similar pattern of the administration avoiding student input on the subject of ICE. President Cole mentioned concerns of backlash over sanctuary campus policies from Louisiana’s conservative governor, Jeff Landry, but failed to offer any alternatives.

In early December, Landry collaborated with the Trump administration to send a massive wave of ICE agents into the New Orleans area in an operation dubbed “Catahoula Crunch.” In early January, it was reported that the Trump administration was downscaling the immigration crackdown, but reports have not been confirmed. The operation had a stated goal of 5000 arrests. As of December 18, the crackdown has resulted in 370 arrests, according to DHS.

The operation sent strong ripples through the Loyola community, where 21% of students are Latino, and 4% of the student body are international with student visas. The school was labeled an Emerging Hispanic Serving Institution in 2024. Since August of 2025, the Liberate and Unite New Orleans (LUNO) chapter of SDS has held protests and other direct actions as part of its Loyola sanctuary campus campaign. However, the university has made no concrete policy changes since the operation’s start.

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