FIU students, faculty protest school's partnership with ICE as university elects new president
Florida International University students and faculty gathered on campus Monday morning to protest the partnership between campus police and U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement, as the school's Board of Trustees met to vote on a new president.
The agreement, under the 287 (g) program, allows FIU police officers to be trained and authorized to act as ICE agents on campus. It's part of a broader initiative across Florida.
FIU Police Chief Alexander Casas has said it will help keep students safe. However, those protesting said they worry that it will increase fear among students.
"Our students, especially considering we have such a large international student base, 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," FIU senior Dariel Gomez said.
"The administration and the police department have not done a great job of really informing us about how they're going to ensure that this agreement doesn't lead to those issues," he added.
Demonstrators hoped to get the Board of Trustees' attention
The demonstration came ahead of the FIU Board of Trustees meeting in which, by unanimous vote, the board selected interim President Jeanette Nuñez to be the school's 7th president.
Nuñez, who received her bachelor's degree and master's degree at FIU, was named interim president in February. She stepped down as Florida's lieutenant governor to accept the position.
Nuñez, who is a proponent of 287 (g) partnerships, said she trusts Casas with the responsibility.
"He's done a phenomenal job of engaging with the community, engaging with the students, making them understand that he would much rather be in control of that process then have somebody come in, an agent from who knows where, and manage that," she said.
Nuñez said that when it comes to deportations, she will keep an eye on her students but also follow the law.
"We have a responsibility to follow the law. So certainly that is a possibility, but we'll have to monitor that situation. It's a delicate situation, I understand," she said.
Nuñez replaces Kenneth Jessell who had served as FIU's president since 2022.
