Florida International University is the latest state university to allow its police force to partner with the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.
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\nOn Tuesday, two separate demonstrations were held on campus against the university\u2019s move, which allows campus police to be trained by ICE to interrogate and detain students suspected of being undocumented.<\/p>\n
The students taking part in one of the protests felt safe voicing their opinions and showing their faces. \u201cJose\u201d doesn\u2019t have that luxury.
\n\u201cEverything came crumbling down,\u201d he said, describing the change from last school year to this one.
\nJose, which is not his real name, is a Dreamer, a student at FIU brought to the United States by his parents as a child. Now he\u2019s endlessly worried about his future.
\n\u201cDone everything that every other American does, I\u2019ve worked here, pay taxes here, studied here, grew up here, so it\u2019s really unfair,\u201d he said, pointing out that there\u2019s a climate of fear among the estimated 600 Dreamers who attend FIU.
\n\u201cAnywhere you go, you\u2019re in fear that something\u2019s gonna happen regardless, no matter where you\u2019re at, no matter how secluded or private it may seem,\u201d Jose said.<\/p>\n
Jose says there\u2019s been a series of concerning developments, starting when the Florida legislature decided that Dreamers should pay out-of-state tuition instead of the much cheaper in-state rate they had been paying, followed by the collaboration of the FIU Police with ICE.
\nJose said this will be his last semester at FIU because he can no longer afford the tuition.
\nFIU faculty members also held a demonstration Tuesday, supporting students like Jose.
\n\u201cThe last place where a student should feel scared and should feel not safe is on campus,\u201d said Dr. Batira Rojas, a health sciences professor.
\n\u201cAnd at FIU it\u2019s not just students,\u201d added Tania Lopez, an associate professor of English literature. \u201cIt\u2019s 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\u2019t look American enough?\u201d<\/p>\n
I asked Jose if he\u2019s worried now about being profiled and stopped by police.
\n\u201cYes, just because I look Hispanic and have color,\u201d he said.
\nJose feels almost paranoid these days, thinking that the Trump Administration will eliminate DACA protections for students like him and also that FIU Police will start detaining students because of their status, not because they\u2019ve committed crimes.
\n\u201cYou have to make sure of everything around you now, you have to be so alert, so observant,\u201d Jose said.<\/p>\n
The university sent a statement saying that it is simply following the directive of Gov. Ron DeSantis, which instructed all police agencies in Florida to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.<\/p>\n
The partnership between FIU police and ICE has created a climate of fear among Dreamers and other students on campus. The concerns about racial profiling, safety, and the future of DACA protections are real and pressing. It is essential for the university to reconsider its decision and prioritize the well-being and safety of all its students, regardless of their immigration status.<\/p>\n
Q: What is the partnership between FIU police and ICE?
\nA: The partnership allows campus police to be trained by ICE to interrogate and detain students suspected of being undocumented.
\nQ: How many Dreamers attend FIU?
\nA: There are an estimated 600 Dreamers who attend FIU.
\nQ: Why is Jose worried about being profiled and stopped by police?
\nA: Jose is worried because he looks Hispanic and has color, and he fears that he may be targeted by police because of his appearance.
\nQ: What is the university’s response to the concerns?
\nA: The university says it is simply following the directive of Gov. Ron DeSantis, which instructed all police agencies in Florida to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Introduction to the Issue Florida International University is the latest state university to allow its police force to partner with the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. On Tuesday, two separate demonstrations were held on campus against the university\u2019s move, which allows campus police to be trained by ICE to interrogate and detain students suspected […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":13104,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-13103","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/media.nbcmiami.com\/2025\/04\/FIU-students-protest-immigration-enforcement.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&fit=1920,1080&w=1920&resize=1920,1080&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13103"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13103"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13103\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13105,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13103\/revisions\/13105"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13104"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13103"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}