For many students, Chicago is a place of escape from school, weekend trips and an extension of home. Lately, however, that sense of freedom has been replaced by unease, as the recent deployment of the National Guard onto the city's streets has left many frightened.
“I still went, but we carried our passports everywhere we went,” said Laura Perez (sophomore, Spanish and English), a student whose parents urged her not to travel to Chicago after hearing about the deployment. “They told me not to risk it, that something bad could happen, and no one would care that I have a student visa.”
Her experience echoes the concerns of other students in similar situations. On Oct. 8, 2025, the U.S. Northern Command confirmed that nearly 500 National Guard soldiers from Texas and Illinois have been deployed to the greater Chicago area under federal orders. This mandate, which was issued to protect federal property and assist U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), has prompted pushback from state officials and concern from students, who are watching the growing federal presence so close to home. This raises a pressing question: Is this an effort of power or protection?
According to the U.S. Northern Command, the purpose behind the deployment is to “Protect U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other U.S. Government personnel who are performing federal functions, including the enforcement of federal law and protect federal property.” However, despite these intentions, residents have described a different experience, with some reporting heightened anxiety and fear. Four days ago, Andrea Cervantes, a Chicago resident, reported to NewsNation that the order has restricted movement into the city, raising concerns about her safety and others.
The order quickly prompted a response and sparked reactions from Illinois leaders. According to C-SPAN, Gov. JB Pritzker (D-IL), Mayor Brandon Johnson, and Attorney General Kwame Raoul held a press conference addressing President Trump’s efforts to federalize the Illinois National Guard and deploy soldiers to Chicago. Kwame Raoul highlighted the state’s lawsuit against the Trump administration, describing the threats to deploy soldiers to Chicago as "a president's unconstitutional desire to take the unprecedented action of militarizing American cities." The leaders then reviewed Major Johnson’s plans to designate certain areas of the city as “ICE-free zones.”
This tension between local and federal authorities has led to changes in immigration enforcement, once again blurring the line between power and protection. According to the Immigration Research Initiative (IRI), “both times the number of daily arrests increased—in January and May—there was a decrease in the percentage of people ICE arrested who had been convicted of a crime. (Importantly, violations of immigration laws are civil, not criminal violations.)”
TRAC News reports, “While President Trump claims he is deporting the 'worst of the worst,' the actual data indicate ICE is locking up individuals without any criminal records – not even a pending charge.” These findings add depth to the issue: Whose safety is being protected, and at what cost?
Meanwhile, on campus, the Social Justice Club is leading conversations about what this means for immigrant communities and the rights of students. Audrey Lim (junior, sociology and English), and president of the Social Justice club, states, “I think the increase in ICE surveillance arrest quotas, targeting between 1,000 and 3,000 arrests per day, and the detainment of those without criminal convictions are all injustices we want to spread awareness about in the Social Justice club,” referencing IRI.
Lim goes on to address the impact this has on our campus, affecting both its students and the community around it. “AU is so ethnically and internationally diverse, we want to address the current dangers our student body and faculty face. Since the first week of school, our club has been distributing red cards, an idea inspired by the Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California (AJSOCAL) internship she was part of this past summer, at the Campus Center, during the club fair, the Social Sciences and Behavioral Sciences (SSBS), and the Honors department.” Here, protection isn’t about authority, but rather about empowering citizens to understand and stand up for their rights. She adds, “These cards list the constitutional rights that should be protected for everyone in the U.S., regardless of citizenship status, including the Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights,” which state the right against unreasonable searches and seizures of personal property, and the right to be judged by a jury, consecutively. “We don’t need to open the door for immigration agents, answer any questions, or sign anything without speaking to a lawyer first.”
As a campus devoted to community and protecting each other, consider Audrey Lim’s closing statement as a reminder of the helpful resources on campus, such as the Social Justice club, which is available and happy to assist with any further questions or concerns. She states, “Our goal is to do what we can to hopefully protect our AU campus community from the injustices of our changing nation, as well as contribute to the larger social justice battle.”
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of Andrews University. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, Andrews University or the Seventh-day Adventist church.