College students nationwide are pushing to protect illegal immigrants who fear deportation under a Donald Trump administration by attempting to become "sanctuary campuses."
More than 100 colleges, including elite schools like Columbia University in New York, staged walkouts on Wednesday to force their campuses to implement policies that would ensure a "safe space" for undocumented immigrants, the New York Post reported.
Students at New York University took over Washington Square Park after a walk out at noon. The college kids were carrying protest signs that read, "Not on our campus," "NYU rising," and "We demand a #sanctuarycampus."
Hannah Fullerton, a junior at NYU who organized the Washington Square Park rally, said "Undocumented students" need to be protected from President-elect Donald Trump.
"We as students are walking out today because we recognize undocumented students are among the most vulnerable on our campus and so we are rallying to say that, as citizens or students with privilege, we will put our bodies on the line between them and a Trump presidency," she told the Post.
In Ohio, more than 2,400 students at Oberlin, a university known for being progressive, signed a petition demanding the campus become a sanctuary for undocumented immigrants.
Harvard, Yale, and Brown have also joined the movement.
A Brown University faculty letter published on Monday claimed, "We have reason to believe Providence Police officers cannot enter the campus without permission of the University."
"Given that many students, staff members, and their families are directly affected by this issue, we urge the University to immediately work to develop a protocol for the University serving as a sanctuary campus," the letter continued.
Trump has vowed to arrest or deport up to three million illegal immigrants who have criminal records.