Note from the President's Desk
Amit Singh <amit.singh@edmonds.edu> Wed, Jun 17, 2026 at 2:52 PM
Reply-To: amit.singh@edmonds.edu
To: Amit Singh <amit.singh@edmonds.edu>
Bcc: campus@edmonds.edu
Dear Students, Faculty, and Staff,
As I shared earlier this week, an Edmonds College student was apprehended on our campus by ICE agents this past Saturday. I am following up today to clarify what happened, the extent to which Edmonds College was involved, and to share our policy and procedure and resources for students and employees.
First however, I want to address the concerns that were raised in our Board of Trustees meeting last evening that our campus community needed the college to communicate more quickly than we did. While I and the Edmonds College Leadership Team were disturbed by the event, and were working behind the scenes immediately to understand what took place, to follow up with all involved, and to follow our established policy and procedure, I want to assure you that this message was heard, and I offer my sincere thanks to those who provided this important feedback.
As the President of Edmonds College, I care deeply about the safety of every one of our students and employees, and understand that more communication leads to safer communities. I hope that this situation never takes place on our campus again, but commit to communicating more quickly, if it ever does.
On Saturday, June 13, masked ICE agents drove into a parking lot on our campus and pulled a student from a vehicle as the student waited to take part in a college class activity. The agents were asked by the person in charge of the college activity to show their names, badges, and warrant. They provided none of that information and drove off college property with the apprehended student. The person in charge of the college activity alerted our security team, who followed the protocols we have developed in cooperation with the State Attorney General’s Office, which forbids any state agency from providing assistance to federal immigration agents. Not only have we developed and published our policy and procedure, but the leadership team and I regularly review it, communicate to campus regarding what to do in an immigration enforcement event, and talk through scenarios, so that we can be as prepared as possible to keep our students and employees safe if something happens on our campus.
To be clear, in compliance with the Keep Washington Working Act, and federal student privacy laws (FERPA), Edmonds College does not share any information with federal immigration agents. Additionally, we do not willingly grant access to any part of our campus to ICE agents unless we are able to verify their identity, and they produce a valid court order or judicial warrant.
Complicating this, however, is the fact that federal agents do not normally notify anyone before arriving, and in this instance, did not comply with demands to produce identification and a warrant. While state agencies, along with local law enforcement are not legally allowed to interfere with federal agents, we are, however, notifying the State Attorney General’s Office about the federal agents’ violation of our campus protocols.
These are trying times. We care deeply about our students, employees, and neighbors, and understand how traumatizing events like this are to everyone involved - either directly or indirectly.
Following are some resources that we have compiled for students and employees:
Edmonds College Policy
Students
- Student Right to Know
- Immigration Resources
- WA Attorney General “Know Your Rights”
- Counseling and Resource Center
Employees
- WA Attorney General “Know Your Rights”
- Employee Assistance Program (accessible by employees only)
Thank you.
Amit B. Singh
MA, MBA, MS, PhD
President, Edmonds College