At least 15 Florida agencies have ICE protocols

At least three members of the University of Florida system have signed agreements with U.S. immigration and customs enforcement to allow its campus police department to enforce immigration laws, bringing the total to 15 agencies across the state.

Southwestern Florida State University, Northwestern Florida State University and Tallahassee State University all signed a 287 (g) agreement with ICE, which allows the agency to delegate immigration enforcement powers to other law enforcement agencies, such as campus police. According to federal databases, the three protocols have been approved by ICE. Others approved as participating institutions are police officers at Florida A&M, Florida New College, the University of Florida, the University of Florida, and the University of West Florida.

None of the latest three universities responded Internal Advanced ED.

A spokesman said the Santa Fe College has not signed a draft agreement yet, noting that the earliest to be completed was at the board meeting on May 20. A spokesman for Pensacola State University said its campus police are considering applying for cooperation with ICE.

Although all 12 institutions in the State University system are contracted with ICE, Southwest Florida, Northwest Florida and Tallahassee appear to be the first of 28 members of the University of Florida system to enter such an arrangement.

Not all state universities have campus police departments. But among those who do have campus police departments, Ice is not signed. For example, Jacksonville Florida State University and Polk State College told Internal Advanced ED Neither of these memorandums reached a consensus with ICE.

Leaders defend the agreement

The deal with Ice was struck by a crackdown on Gov. Ron DeSantis and a legislature-driven immigration system driven by Republican-controlled Florida. According to the press release, DeSantis directed state law enforcement agencies to sign an agreement with ICE to “enforce immigration enforcement functions within the state” to make deportation more effective.

The University of Florida and the University soon signed a memorandum of understanding with ICE, which will perform immigration duties on campus on behalf of campus police. Institutions largely refuse to speak publicly about these arrangements. But, at a recent faculty meeting at Florida International University and FBI Director Alexander Casas, the Florida International University, had insightful insights into why the agreement was signed but left many wandering questions.

Casas argued at a meeting on April 18 that university police are better at performing immigration enforcement duties on campus than external agencies.

“I have no control over the role of ICE. I have no control over the jurisdictional behaviors that state agencies do. But if I don’t sign an agreement, I don’t even have the chance to say: ‘Call us first and let us deal with our community.’ It’s not even an option,” Casas said. He added that he wanted to be a “driver’s seat” but “no agreement, I’m not even in the car.”

FIU interim president Jeanette Nuñez, a former governor under Desantis, also defended the deal and told faculty that the Senate ICE Agreement follows a similar arrangement “in almost all state universities and many other universities across the country”.

Immigration experts told Internal Advanced ED They are not familiar with such protocols from other state universities. Only Florida agencies appear in an ice database that tracks activity and pending the 287 (g) protocol. (FIU did not answer questions about Nuñez’s claims.)

FIU Senate members do not appear to be influenced by Casas or Nuniz. Several professors talked about their distrust of ice – some apparently emotionally, and mentioned the recent suspicious actions of ice, such as the widely publicized U.S. citizen Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez, who was detained earlier this month, was detained earlier this month and was wrongly accused of illegally entering Florida as “unauthorized Alien Alien.” Federal officials later accused Lopez-Gomez of arrest.

Ultimately, the Senate faculty approved a resolution requiring the university to withdraw from the ICE Agreement, which members believe is contrary to the value of the institution.

Pay attention to the whole state

Concerns about such agreements have also emerged at Jeonju University.

Students and faculty protest such agreements at FIU, FAU and elsewhere. Union Union College, representing professors across the state, condemned the agreement with ICE betrayed the core values ​​of higher education in a recent statement.

“Our campus must be an institution of learning, critical investigation and inclusion, not a tool of oppression for surveillance and state-funded,” Florida United College officials said in a statement last week. “On our campus, ice’s presence and participation in our campus seed the fear of students, faculty and faculty, especially those from immigrants, undocumented or international communities. This undermines the mission of our higher education system: to promote open dialogue, freedom of knowledge, and free exchange of ideas across countries and identities.”

The agreements also prompted the push back by the Florida Faculty Advisory Committee, which issued a resolution urging the university to withdraw from its existing agreement with ICE.

“To effectively protect our college, campus police have developed a unique relationship with the campus community,” council members wrote in a recent resolution. “They are beginning to know our students, our educational spaces, and our communities. They appear in peaceful protests, classrooms and student activities. This unique trust in federal immigration enforcement has made our campus safer, put our officials in an incredible position, and put students on cautious attitudes towards campaign services that support services.”

The resolution has been endorsed by some teachers in the Senate, including the FAU.