By Kerry Eleveld / Daily Kos

A movement has begun on college campuses across the nation to shield undocumented students, staff and their family members from deportation. The basic idea is similar to what’s outlined in this piece from the University of Wisconsin’s campus newspaper, The Daily Cardinal:

Following President-elect Donald Trump’s Tuesday victory, a letter has begun circulating online calling on UW-Madison administrators to protect students, staff and their family members “who face imminent deportation” because of their undocumented status. […]

The letter calls on Chancellor Rebecca Blank as well as other senior administrators to declare the UW-Madison campus as a sanctuary for community members who are undocumented or those who have Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which is a program that allows certain immigrants to receive renewable two-year work permits.

UW-Madison students Sergio M. González, Laura P. Minero and professor Cindy I-Fen Cheng wrote the letter Saturday, which has been signed more than 2,500 times by faculty members, students and alumni as of 5 p.m Sunday.

Similar efforts have emerged at UC-San Diego, Yale, other Ivy League schools, and elsewhere to limit the ability of local law enforcement and campus police to cooperate with federal Immigration, Customs and Enforcement (ICE) officers.

The idea builds on a policy many large urban areas have adopted that encourages undocumented immigrants to cooperate with local authorities without fear of being turned over to federal immigration officials. Cities such as Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and Seattle, have all enacted similar measures and are promising to stay true that commitment in the face of a Trump administration.

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Kerry Eleveld is the author of “Don’t Tell Me To Wait: How the fight for gay rights changed America and transformed Obama’s presidency,” published October 2015 to critical acclaim by the NYT, Kirkus Reviews, and others.