Florida university confirms ICE partnership, installs new president despite protests
Florida International University students protested the university’s partnership with ICE through the 287(g) program.
The board of trustees appointed former DeSantis Lieutenant Gov. Jeanette Nunez as university president.
Florida International University (FIU) students protested on June 2 in opposition to the school’s police partnership with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The demonstration coincided with a board of trustees vote to officially confirm interim President Jeanette Nunez as FIU’s new leader.
Nunez, who previously served as Florida’s lieutenant governor under Gov. Ron DeSantis, supported the university’s involvement in ICE’s 287(g) program. That program allows ICE to “delegate to state and local law enforcement officers the authority to perform specified immigration officer functions” under federal oversight.
The campus protest aimed to sway the board’s decision but ultimately failed. The trustees voted unanimously to install Nunez, making her the first Hispanic woman to lead the Miami-based public university.
FIU’s ongoing participation in 287(g) allows the university’s police force to receive federal training and enforcement authority on immigration issues. According to FIU Police Chief Alexander Casas, this move is intended to keep immigration-related incidents under campus control, rather than ceding authority to ICE agents.
“I want to be the head of the agency that addresses this issue,” Casas said during an April 18 faculty senate meeting. “If I don’t enter the agreement, I don’t have the opportunity to say, ‘call us first, let us deal with our community.’”
Nunez supported the policy, telling faculty that the university must uphold the law. “If there are students who have engaged in criminal activity, it is our responsibility to remove them,” she said.
Student protesters disagreed. According to CBS News, one FIU senior argued the ICE agreement could lead to racial profiling and harm international students.
“Our students… are concerned that this partnership with ICE is going to lead to more questioning of students, it’s going to lead to false arrests, it’s going to lead to racial profiling,” Dariel Gomez said.
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The protests also followed reports that 18 FIU students lost their F-1 visa status under changes to federal immigration enforcement policies, raising alarm among students with international ties.
“Prospective students… have previously assumed that FIU… would be a safe option,” Gomez added. “But they’re seeing all of these developments… It’s not a safe option for someone looking to study here.”
Despite the backlash, university officials maintained the program is voluntary and designed to preserve campus authority in immigration-related incidents.
Campus Reform reached out to Florida International University and its police department for comment, but no response was received.
