Students and faculty protest after FIU signs cooperation agreement with ICE

The United Faculty of Florida chapter at FIU is asking the university to withdraw from the agreement and to provide full transparency regarding the status of affected students

Over 900 students have had their visas revoked across the U.S.

by Ari Odzer

Two demonstrations took place at Florida International University on Tuesday after campus police agreed to partner with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The United Faculty of Florida chapter at FIU is asking the university to withdraw from the agreement and to provide full transparency regarding the status of affected students.

A student-led protest got underway as the university’s board of trustees held a meeting.

Protestors are arguing that by partnering with ICE, undocumented students such as DREAMERs will be dealing with stress.

“We saw first, denying DACA recipients in-state tuition, then, now, enrolling in the ICE program, FIU student visas being revoked, we don’t know why, nobody knows why, nobody’s telling us why, so all these steps are being put in place and where does that leave us?” said Tania Lopez, faculty union president.

“The last place where a student should feel scared and should feel not safe is on campus, this is supposed to be the safest place for our students to be,” said Dr. Batira Rojas, an FIU associate professor.

FIU released the following statement:

“FIU Police Department has signed a cooperation agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in compliance with Governor Ron DeSantis’ directive to law enforcement agencies.”

Several other Florida universities have agreed to deputize campus police for immigration enforcement.

On Friday, FIU officials confirmed that the F1 visas of 18 students, as first reported by the Miami New Times, were terminated between March 25 and April 10. They did not provide specific information.

“And at FIU it’s not just students, it’s faculty and staff who are here on work visas, who are here legally but they can still be approached, and interrogated about their visa status, so do I have to carry my passport around all the time now because I don’t look American enough?” Lopez said. “I don’t know, so do we really want to turn our learning spaces into this sort of oppressive environment?”