Florida Universities Sign Agreements With ICE

At least 10 Florida public universities have struck agreements with the federal government authorizing campus police to question and detain undocumented immigrants.

Inside Higher Ed requested public records from all 12 State University System of Florida institutions related to their agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Based on the results, it is clear that at least 10 have signed deals with ICE: Florida A&M University, Florida Atlantic University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Florida International University, New College of Florida, the University of Central Florida, the University of Florida, the University of North Florida, the University of South Florida and the University of West Florida.

Florida State University and Florida Polytechnic University are in the process of signing the paperwork, according to spokespersons at each institution.

It is unclear whether any of the 28 members of the Florida College System, which don’t all have sworn police forces, have made similar arrangements with ICE. An FCS system spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on whether its colleges have also entered such agreements.

Universities across the state signed memorandums of agreement at the direction of Republican governor Ron DeSantis, who ordered law enforcement agencies to partner with ICE “to execute functions of immigration enforcement,” according to a Feb. 19 news release.

Legal experts and Florida faculty members note that such agreements are rare and mark a shift away from the typical duties of campus police, which don’t usually include immigration enforcement. They also raised concerns about how such arrangements could create a climate of fear on campuses.

Enforcers Seeking Partners

The DeSantis directive came shortly after the governor tapped Larry Keefe, a former U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Florida, to serve as executive director of the nascent State Board of Immigration Enforcement, created by Florida’s Legislature. Keefe is known for helping DeSantis orchestrate flights of migrants from Texas to Massachusetts in 2022.

Keefe was named to the role on Feb. 17. Eight days later, Jennifer Pritt, executive director of the Florida Police Chiefs Association, sent an email to multiple universities that included a template for a memorandum of agreement with ICE. “Director Keefe is seeking participation from as many municipalities as possible, as soon as possible,” Pritt wrote.

Most universities, however, offered limited statements about their agreements with ICE. A Florida Board of Governors spokesperson also provided few details.

“Several police departments at universities within the State University System of Florida are partnering with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement,” Cassandra Edwards, director of public affairs for FLBOG, wrote by email. “We do not maintain these records and recommend contacting individual universities for specific information about the partnerships.”

Public records show that Florida Poly was hesitant to sign on, apparently due to guidance by Polk County sheriff Grady Judd, who is also on the State Board of Immigration Enforcement.

“He wants us to hold off and not sign because he’s going to be handling all from Polk and not wants [sic] us to be involved as of now,” Florida Poly police chief Rick Holland wrote in a March 25 email response to questions from administrators at other universities about the agreements.

Though Florida Poly noted it is still in the consideration process, emails obtained by Inside Higher Ed show another message from Holland indicating that Florida Poly appears willing to sign.

“Can you send me a signed copy of your MOU as a template to where I need to sign?” Holland wrote in an April 3 email sent to Jennifer Coley, the chief of police at New College of Florida.

(Florida Poly confirmed after publication that it planned to sign the paperwork Wednesday.)

The Agreements

Memorandums of agreement reviewed by Inside Higher Ed show that universities that entered arrangements with ICE will grant their police the authority to perform tasks typically reserved for government officials, such as questioning, arresting and preparing charges for individuals on campus suspected of immigration violations.

Campus police will be required to undergo mandatory training “on relevant administrative, legal, and operational issues tailored to the immigration enforcement functions to be performed,” according to copies of agreements between universities and ICE reviewed by Inside Higher Ed.

Universities that signed agreements did not provide a timeline for when the training might begin.

Michael Kagan, a law professor and director of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Immigration Clinic, said such agreements are uncommon at universities, noting that he is unaware of any others. He said they are essentially “force multipliers for ICE that deputize local police agencies to do the work that ICE would normally do itself.”

Jennifer Chacón, a professor at Stanford Law School, also said that she had not heard of prior agreements between campus police and ICE. Chacón noted that 287(g) agreements, introduced in 1996 to delegate immigration enforcement powers to other law enforcement agencies, have ebbed and flowed over the years, rising under Republican presidents and falling under their Democratic counterparts. Under President Donald Trump, who has made a crackdown on immigration a central part of his policy agenda, such agreements are proliferating.

“Over the last three months, we’ve seen an explosion in 287(g) agreements under Trump,” Chacón said.

‘Designed to Increase Fear’

Faculty and legal scholars are skeptical and concerned about campus agreements with ICE.

In a statement to Inside Higher Ed, the Florida International chapter of United Faculty of Florida called for the university to immediately withdraw from the program, which it condemned.

“We affirm that every member of our university community has a basic right to feel safe on campus—free from profiling, surveillance, and fear of deportation,” members wrote. “FIU’s latest act of anticipatory obedience undermines the rights of our community and jeopardizes the opportunity for all students and faculty to learn from and engage with their non-citizen peers. FIU’s haste to comply with ICE is in direct conflict with its stated vision. These actions distract from our educational mission and erode the inclusive environment FIU claims to foster.”

The statement added the student body is “majority Hispanic, heavily immigrant, and home to nearly 600 students protected by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program,” calling the agreement a betrayal of FIU’s legacy as a prominent Hispanic-serving institution.

Faculty at FIU also wrote that they were “equally alarmed to hear about the termination of the F-1 visa status of 18 FIU students.” (As of Tuesday evening, at least 1,234 students at 209 colleges have had their visas revoked, in some cases for participating in campus protests but often for unclear reasons.)

Legal scholars shared faculty members’ concerns about the fallout of such agreements.

“It seems like this is designed to increase fear. And whether that’s by design or not, it is likely to increase racial profiling on campus, and it is not at all an effective way to police immigration,” Chacón said.

Kagan said he would be unsurprised to see similar agreements at universities in other red states.

“I think that it will accentuate the extremes in terms of how different university systems react to the reality that immigrants are part of their campus life,” he said. “You have one extreme, where Florida is saying, ‘Let’s hunt them down with our own police,’ while you have other university systems that have started programs to be more welcoming to undocumented students.”

Editor's note: This article has been updated to reflect that Florida Poly plans to sign an agreement with ICE on Wednesday.