Oregon Pushes Back on Trump Student Data Requests and Moves to Require ICE Alerts on Campuses

In a lawsuit in coalition with 16 other states filed yesterday, Oregon has challenged the federal Department of Education’s demand that higher education institutions provide new data in surveys as the Trump Administration ramps up ICE targeting of students.

Lawsuit To Counter Trump Administration’s Student Data Demands

The Trump Administration recently demanded that higher education institutions provide new data via a new component added to the Integrated Postsecondary Education System (IPEDS), a collection of interrelated surveys administered by the Department of Education. The reason given was that the Administration seeks to track institutions’ compliance with the Supreme Court decision in  Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard.

The ruling says race cannot be used as a factor in admissions, and the new survey jeopardizes student privacy and could lead to baseless investigations of colleges and universities.

By requesting in-depth information about individual students, the coalition argues that the rushed implementation of the new survey requirements leaves institutions vulnerable to inadvertent errors and unreliable data.

Oregon AG Rayfield said, “This administration has already gone after our elections and a free press – now they’re focusing on higher education.”

The Administration has, in their haste to roll out the new requirements, for example, failed to provide definitions for critical terms, leaving universities guessing what information they are supposed to provide.

Yet, they will face severe financial penalties if they guess wrong. Hundreds of positions within ED have also been eliminated, including in the offices responsible for clarifying university requirements.

The coalition argues that the ED’s rushed implementation of the new data requirements was unlawful and will place an undue burden on colleges and universities.

The Trump Administration’s actions are contrary to law, fail to comply with the required procedures, and are arbitrary and capricious.

Oregon Bill Forces Universities To Notify Communities If ICE Arrives

In addition to the lawsuit, Oregon is also tightening campus privacy rules through legislation. Lawmakers just passed a bill requiring universities to notify their communities when federal immigration officers come onto campus and to try to alert students if their information is shared with immigration officials.

Colleges and universities will have to find a way to confirm ICE activity on campus and notify the public through their websites and other emergency notification systems. HB 4079 directs governing bodies of institutions of higher education to adopt policies for responding when a federal immigration authority enters a campus.

Here is what Oregon’s campus ICE bill would require universities to set up.