University of Florida students protest deal to cooperate with ICE
Approximately 200 students and community members gathered on campus to protest the University of Florida's deal with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The agreement will allow local law enforcement agents to carry out immigration-related tasks by working under ICE’s oversight.
Students and community members recently participated in an anti-ICE protest organized by a socialist student group on one of Florida’s largest campuses.
Approximately 200 students and community members gathered on Nov. 5 on the University of Florida’s campus to protest the school’s recent deal with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), according to the Independent Florida Alligator.
The university signed a 287(g) agreement with ICE earlier this year, Campus Reform previously reported.
The agreement refers to Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which empowers ICE “to delegate to state and local law enforcement officers the authority to perform specified immigration officer functions under the agency’s direction and oversight,” according to the agency’s webpage.
UF’s chapter of Young Democratic Socialists of America organized the protest, writing in an Instagram post, “The UF Administration’s support of ICE and the Trump administration’s anti-immigrant agenda is unacceptable, so we will be demanding that they hear our demands presented in our petition.”
“They shouldn’t be out here making people feel more unsafe, especially people who might be illegal immigrants and might need that chance,” one student protester remarked when asked about ICE’s involvement with local law enforcement.
“We’re just going to keep escalating until hopefully they listen to us,” said another student protester and YDSA member who criticized the school’s role in the arrest of Felipe Zapata Velasquez.
The group decried the arrest of Velasquez, an illegal immigrant who was arrested and detained in connection to a traffic offense, in a petition on its Instagram page. The petition states that the school “refused to clarify his standing as a student to ICE,” and Velasquez eventually self-deported.
The petition also includes several demands, such as “[t]he implementation of, and commitment to, sanctuary policies,” “[t]he rescinding of the current 287(g) agreement between UFPD and ICE,” and that the school “[r]eadmit students in good standing who have been deported by ICE.”
The YDSA chapter also included links for individuals to write letters to the university president and university police chief in opposition to the agreement. Both included disclaimers saying, “If you are not a citizen, please do not provide your real name in the ‘First Name’ and ‘Last Name’ fields for your security.”
All relevant parties have been contacted for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
