U.S. President Donald Trump’s flurry of executive orders targeting immigrant communities has brought fear and uncertainty to many University of Maryland community members.

In recent weeks, Trump has signed multiple executive orders to strengthen immigration enforcement and promised mass deportations nationwide. Many university community members said they are living in worry after increased threats and activity from United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

For Stefano Raffo, a junior government and politics and international business major, Trump’s orders have led to uneasy feelings in his hometown in South Florida — one of the country’s largest Latino communities.

“My family has reported how landscapers, who they would usually just see around, are not leaving their houses. Children are not going to school,” Raffo, the vice president of Political Latinxs United for Movement and Action in Society, said. “It’s been just a complete paralysis.”

Trump’s executive orders about immigration include calling for an end to birthright citizenship, suspending the United States Refugee Admissions Program and limiting Temporary Protected Status, which protects some people from deportation.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued a directive in January that allowed ICE to raid “sensitive areas,” such as schools, places of worship and hospitals.

Public policy associate professor Niambi Carter emphasized how the new administration’s unpredictability has caused unnecessary stress for students.

“There are a lot of … campus communities who don’t know whether they’re secure, whether they’re able to continue their education, whether they’ll be able to stay in the country or whether they’ll be able to keep their families together,” Carter said.

[Students protest UMD’s willingness to host ICE, defense contractors at spring career fair]

Sophia Lopez-Lamia, PLUMAS’ social advocacy coordinator, said she thinks these orders are unfair and attack valuable members of society.

The Trump administration has targeted and blamed certain minority groups rather than addressing “systemic problems” within the government, the senior neuroscience major said.

During fiscal years 2021 to 2024, Latin American and Caribbean countries comprised the top 10 countries in ICE deportations from arrests in the United States, according to the Migration Policy Institute.

Both Raffo and Lopez-Lamia said they fear for their communities and that there is a human cost to the administration’s actions.

“It’s not only an economic cost of losing valuable workers,” Raffo said. “[Undocumented immigrants] barely get any benefits but they still contribute in taxes … and yet they’re being treated in such an inhuman way.”

Trump’s order to cut financial benefits for undocumented students has raised concerns for many, according to Raffo.

Trump signed an order on Feb. 19 that demanded federal agencies ensure all undocumented immigrants in the U.S. do not receive any public, tax-funded benefits. The order also prevents the use of any federal funds to support sanctuary policies.

Raffo explained that many minority communities rely on scholarships and other outside funding to pursue higher education.

The policies are putting “fear and uncertainty” on a large number of students, Raffo said.

“That’s the last thing anyone needs while pursuing their studies,” he said.

[Legal experts educate UMD students about immigration rights, protections]

Latin American history professor Karin Rosemblatt said many faculty members and researchers at this university are also concerned about the uncertainty surrounding research visas and grants.

Rosemblatt explained that many valuable researchers at this university rely on the safety of having a work visa to complete their research.

This university released guidance in February for faculty and staff on interacting with immigration officers. The university advised faculty and staff members to call UMPD and to not disclose any personal information to law enforcement officers or allow them in private areas, including offices or classrooms in session, until authorized by this university’s general counsel office.

Despite these instructions, some community members said this university should do more to protect undocumented students.

Rosemblatt believes this university should become a sanctuary campus — a campus that takes extra measures to protect undocumented students and faculty.

“We have yet to have any word from [Pines] about this issue, and I think that’s a glaring silence,” Rosemblatt said. “I have personally asked him … to put in place policies that protect people on our campus. I haven’t had any response from the administration, so I think this silence is very worrying.”

Former university president Wallace Loh rejected student demands to declare the campus as a sanctuary space The Washington Post reported in 2017.

Loh said the action was “unnecessary” because this university already protects its students, The Washington Post reported.

This university declined to comment on faculty members and students calling for sanctuary status on campus.

Raffo said this university can support their worried community members by ensuring that undocumented or visa-sponsored students are safe on and around campus.

“Backing that up as well with actions just shows that [this university] cares about these students, and isn’t just waiting to throw them onto the curb,” he said.