Chaya Raichik, a commentator running the X account “Libs of TikTok” with 4.5 million followers, publicly encouraged Immigration and Customs Enforcement to raid De Anza College on Jan. 7.
With a photo of a banner hanging in the Media and Learning Center, Raichik said the college “seems like a great place for ICE to raid next” and called for the Department of Government Efficiency and Department of Education to defund the Foothill-De Anza Community College District.
The banner reads, “De Anza College welcomes undocumented students.” An identical banner hangs in the Registration and Student Services building.
DASG Equity and Diversity Officer Dali Guerrero Fernandez, 19, political science major, called the post “deeply disturbing” and “unacceptable.”
“Myself and my committee urge and demand that (De Anza College) President Omar Torres and the college administration take immediate action,” Guerrero Fernandez wrote to La Voz. “Not only to protect undocumented students, but also to clearly and publicly reaffirm the college’s support.”
While ICE activity has not yet been reported on campus, as Foothill-De Anza is a sanctuary district, the college will “notify all students, faculty, staff and the campus community when the presence of immigration enforcement is confirmed on campus,” according to its website.
In a written statement to La Voz, De Anza Student Government President Jayven Huang, 19, computer science major, called Raichik’s post, which garnered over 184,000 views as of publication, slanderous and filled with “blatant lies.”
“Undocumented students are and will be here to stay at De Anza. They are just like everyone else,” Huang wrote. “They pay taxes through employment and, in many cases, don’t receive the same Social Security benefits as others do, despite contributing to it.”
Huang told students to defer to district policies “if any ICE officer steps foot on campus,” namely De Anza’s pre-existing “ICE On Campus” protocols, which Torres circulated and had posted around campus in his first weeks as college president.
While Torres said he could not sit down for an interview because he had a meeting, he said to follow the policy, which asks the college community to notify his office, direct students to stay in their classes or go into private offices, then redirect ICE to his office in ADM 127. Torres also said he would inform the district and pointed to the college’s website for its policies and resources.
Raichik’s call to defund Foothill-De Anza came in reply to another account, @AshFarms, which said taxpayers “have given more than 19 million dollars to De Anza College to further (its) goal of educating undocumented students,” pulling a screenshot from USAspending, the federal government’s “official open data source of federal spending information.”
USAspending only tracks contracts, grants, loans and other awards on the federal level and does not include state or local funding. The $19.1 million comes from the Department of Education for student financial assistance.
Depending on their status, undocumented students who qualify for exceptions from non-resident tuition under Assembly Bill 540 are not necessarily eligible for federal assistance and do not fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid — instead, these students fill out the California Dream Act Application.
“The idea that they (undocumented students) don’t pay into the system or commit more crimes in our community is based on lies and hate,” Huang wrote. “Remember, these are students — people who want a better education and a better tomorrow. They’ll work hard to make it happen.”
For a student to qualify for resident tuition under AB 540, they must have completed at least three full-time years at a high school, adult school and/or community college, as well as having graduated from a California high school or having earned an equivalent, such as a GED, certificate of completion, HiSet or TASC.
“We fully support our undocumented student and employee community,” Pride Center Coordinator Jamie Pelusi said. “ICE has no place on our campus.”
Pelusi said students should follow campus protocol and redirect immigration officers to the college president’s office, in the administration building.
Higher Education For AB540 Students, the college’s resource center primarily serving undocumented and low income students, took to its Instagram account late into Jan. 7, not naming Raichik or her account but writing that its office “became aware of a post circulating online that targeted undocumented students at De Anza.”
“We understand that this situation may be stressful,” HEFAS posted. “Our community’s safety is our number one priority and we will communicate any updates as they arise.”
DASG HEFAS Liaison Brandon Serrano Rodriguez, 30, business administration major, said his organization and the college were both “already on it” and monitoring the situation closely.
“While we (HEFAS) don’t believe there’s an active risk right now, we want everyone to feel comfortable coming to class,” Serrano Rodriguez wrote in the De Anza Discord server. “We stand with our undocumented community.”
HEFAS invited the Santa Clara Rapid Response Network to monitor campus on Jan. 8 and plans to hold a healing circle on Jan. 9. Volunteers from the network came to campus at 9 a.m. and stayed through 3 p.m.
DASG also posted a “know your rights” post to its Instagram page late into Jan. 7 — although the post does not list students’ rights during an immigration or border patrol raid, it reiterates that the district “welcomes everyone regardless of immigration status and will not cooperate with (ICE) or share any student data” and rehashes the college’s protocols.
The National Immigrant Justice Center wrote that “all persons in the United States have constitutional protections, including the right to remain silent when questioned or arrested by immigration officers” on its website.
In an FAQ, The Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, which Foothill-De Anza signed onto an amicus brief with last April, wrote that ICE specifically needs “a criminal arrest warrant or search warrant to lawfully enter nonpublic areas without consent,” as well as that colleges should clearly designate nonpublic spaces “with appropriate signage.”
“Frequently, ICE officers who come to campus are acting on civil, not criminal, authority, and typically carry administrative warrants,” the alliance wrote in May. “Administrative warrants are not signed by a judge and do not authorize officers to enter nonpublic areas without proper consent of the institution.”
While the college has not put up signs clearly designating classrooms and other spaces, including the Hinson Campus Center and the library, as nonpublic spaces, its response plan puts president Torres in charge of whether to let ICE onto campus.
The college does not have a written plan for if ICE acts illegally or otherwise unlawfully, though it encourages the De Anza community to “stand by as a witness if you feel comfortable doing so.”
DASG’s post explicitly calls on students to take photos and videos on the scene — New York’s chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union wrote on its website that community members have the right to film officers under the First Amendment, as long as that filming does not “impede officers in the performance of their duties.”
“De Anza Student Government will stand by our students,” Huang said. “They are part of our community and one of the reasons De Anza is such a highly acclaimed and accredited school.”
