Joseba Andoni Maruri | Contributing Writer
The United Faculty of Florida gathered outside the entrance of GC Ballrooms, protesting against FIU’s voluntary application for an ICE-police-training program.
The program, which would train campus police to enforce immigration law, sparked outrage among the students and faculty.
Police told PantherNOW that only people with “special permissions” were allowed to enter the meeting.
Outside, Tania Sepero Lopez, president of the United Faculty of Florida said that faculty were only made aware of these changes through news sources such as the Miami Herald.
Lopez said that the current changes are of utmost importance, as they allow police to have full access to student records and are part of a greater “trickling of new changes which could lead somewhere.”
“A majority of students on campus are going to feel uncomfortable that ICE is on campus, or that FIU police are the same as ICE,” said Lopez.
“We feel that this position our university is engaged in is driving us away from our mission, from our statement of global citizenship which is right at the door of GC. How are we supposed to engage in global citizenship if our non-citizen students are afraid to participate, speak up, and exchange ideas?”
Other members of the UFF stood protesting while the police looked on, toward an uncertain future.
About Post Author
