Florida’s top universities have agreed that their campus police will work together with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to assist the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on removing illegal immigrants on colleges campuses.
As reported by Campus Reform, five of Florida’s largest public universities have reportedly signed agreements to partner with ICE, making them the first universities in the country to do so.
Those schools include the University of Florida (UF) in Gainesville, Florida Atlantic University (FAU) in Boca Raton, University of Central Florida (UCF) in Orlando, University of South Florida (USF) in Tampa, and Florida International University (FIU) in Miami.
The agreement known as 287(g) allows state and local law enforcement agencies to perform certain duties enforcing immigration laws that would include identifying and processing noncitizens in custody for potential removal.
Trained officers at university police departments will have the authority to stop, interrogate, and arrest illegal aliens,” said Campus Reform reporter Emily Sturge.
Campus police will be required to take extra training like pass examinations equivalent to those given to ICE officers. Trainings include “the scope of immigration officer authority,” “relevant immigration law” and “civil rights laws.”
Certain officers must pass a background check and have “at least two years of total sworn law enforcement officer experience.
Some of the campus enforcement has already happened in the state.
Sturge reports that visas of 18 FIU students have reportedly been terminated, along with 8 UF student visas. After being pulled over by local police, a student at the University of Florid was recently arrested and detained by ICE for failing to maintain proper documentation
According to Campus Reform, the State Department had revoked more than 300 student visas. This number is now estimated to be over 800.
