Kansas professor posts comments encouraging doxxing of ICE agents
A Johnson County Community College English instructor is under fire for social media posts promoting the doxxing of ICE agents and urging others to expose those who work in immigration enforcement.
The controversy follows broader tensions over immigration at the Kansas school, where another instructor recently resigned after a new policy requiring proof of legal status for adult education students.
Steve Werkmeister, an English instructor at Johnson County Community College (JCCC) in Overland Park, Kansas is facing scrutiny after using social media to promote doxxing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.
Werkmeister reportedly reposted a flyer from a left-wing activist group encouraging residents to blow whistles to “follow ICE caravans” and “alert neighbors” when agents are nearby, Fox News reported.
Werkmeister additionally shared a post urging people to publicly expose friends and relatives who work for ICE, claiming they should be “made into pariahs.”
Werkmeister has previously described federal immigration enforcement as “kidnapping,” expressing fears that his own family could be targeted because of their “brown” skin.
“I’ve talked to our chair and the college president to see if I can just move online and teach from a safe location overseas,” he wrote in an Oct. 10 post.
On Rate My Professor, Werkmeister has a 2.8/5 rating, with just 27 percent of his students saying that they would take a class from him again.
“Clearly tries to insert his political biases into grading,” one student wrote in 2021. “[H]e tends to be biased in subjects that he is not familiar with,” another student commented.
There have been other instances of pro-illegal immigration advocacy at JCCC.
This summer, an instructor resigned from the school after learning the school would begin requiring proof of immigration status for adult education programs.
Daniel Tyx, who taught English to immigrant students, told Inside Higher Ed that he left despite loving his “dream job” because the new policy conflicted with his values.
“That was not in alignment with my values,” Tyx said at the time. “And I didn’t feel like, as a matter of conscience, that I was going to be able to continue.”
Campus Reform reported in July that, as the Trump administration intensifies immigration enforcement, many U.S. colleges have adopted “sanctuary campus” policies to protect undocumented students by limiting cooperation with ICE.
Portland State University, for example, officially declares itself a sanctuary campus, refusing to enforce federal immigration law or allow immigration agents on campus, and shielding student records as Oregon’s statewide sanctuary policy requires.
While some schools avoid the term “sanctuary” for political reasons, they still enact similar protections.
Long Beach City College in California declares itself a “safe campus,” pledging that campus security will not cooperate with federal immigration authorities such as ICE.
Campus Reform has contacted Johnson County Community College for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
