Know Your Rights Resources
Introduction
At the University of Illinois Chicago, understanding your rights, regardless of your immigration status, is essential to your safety, empowerment, and success. The Know Your Rights resources provide students with clear information, tools, and support so you can confidently navigate interactions with law enforcement, public agencies, and other systems that may affect your life and education.
Whether you are looking for practical guides, legal resources, or community training opportunities, this page connects you with trusted materials that explain your rights, outline steps you can take to protect yourself, and link you to additional support services at UIC and in the broader community.
Engagement with External Law Enforcement Protocol
Engagement with External Law Enforcement Protocol
- If a non-UIC law enforcement officer makes inquiries regarding any student, staff, faculty, patient, or visitor on campus or requests access to any campus building, immediately refer the officer to UIC Police (943 W. Maxwell St., Chicago, IL, 60608) and call UIC Police directly (312-996-2830) to inform them of the presence of non-UIC law enforcement.
- The protocol above includes any federal immigration officer who makes inquiries about the immigration or citizenship status of any student, staff, faculty, patient, or visitor on campus.
- If any documents are presented, please do not accept them. Direct the officers to UIC Police. Again, call UIC Police directly (312-996-2830) to inform them of the situation.
- If bringing in university counsel is warranted, UIC Police will make that referral. You may also call university counsel directly (312-996-7762), but we encourage you to route all of these situations through UICPD.
Email or Other Digital or Paper-Based Inquiries Protocol
Should you receive a request for information from an external party that is outside of your normal interactions via email, other digital platforms, or through hard-copy documents, please forward that email/information to chancellor@uic.edu and refrain from responding yourself.
Resources
Know Your Rights Training for the UIC community
- Contact Tanya Cabrera to organize a Know Your Rights workshop
Higher Ed immigration Portal
An initiative by the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration. A digital platform that integrates data, policies, and resources about DACA and undocumented, refugee, other immigrant, and international students to support federal immigration reform, fuel change at the state and campus level, and build a diverse movement of partners and stakeholders advocating alongside these students.
United We Dream
Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR)
- Immigrant Community Resources for case management services, legal services, domestic violence, health care access, mental health services, LGBTQ+ resources, human trafficking and family support network resources