Members of the city and FIU community criticize police collaboration with federal immigration enforcement.
Shane Miller | Staff Writer
Protests have continued against the FIU Police Department’s signing of a 278(g) agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. ICE has conducted several recent highly controversial operations in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where two US Citizens who were protesting the agency (Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti) were shot and killed by ICE agents within days of each other.
Photos by Ebiere Orusa | PantherNOW
These killings have sparked mass protests across the US, and FIU has also experienced several protests. These protests have mainly been led by the Young Democratic Socialists of FIU and the FIU ICEbreakers coalition, a group of several on-campus organizations that coordinate anti-ICE protests and responses.
FIUPD Chief Alexander Casas has been one of the central figures of these protests. Chief Casas was also the subject of a recent viral video, first posted by Florida Democratic State Representative Anna Eskamani (D-Orlando). The video features Chief Casas stating he would provide “whatever assistance” would be needed to ICE if they were to request an ‘immigration sweep’ of MMC.
PantherNOW reached out to Chief Casas for comment on the video. Chief Casas was also asked several questions relating to ICE on campus.
Chief Casas began by stating, “At the Florida International University Police Department, our priority has always been the safety, well-being, and trust of the FIU community. We serve a diverse and vibrant campus, and we take seriously the responsibility of ensuring that every student, faculty member, staff member, and visitor feels safe, respected, protected, and treated with fairness.”
Casas continued by defending the agreement by noting how FIUPD routinely cooperates with local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies when they are present at FIU. This cooperation, according to Casas, also ensures that operations will be handled professionally and with care. He also noted how FIUPD officers should serve the campus community because they “know this community, serve this community, and are accountable to this community.”
If FIUPD were to refuse cooperation with federal authorities, Casas stated how another agency could get involved in immigration enforcement who would not have the same level of connection to the campus community. He believes that FIUPD should be the primary point of contact in these situations in order to ensure they are handled lawfully, respectfully, and without racial profiling.
Chief Casas provided the following statement to PantherNOW:
“We understand that immigration enforcement is an issue that raises strong emotions and legitimate concerns, particularly for members of our diverse community. We hear those concerns. We take them seriously. And we want our community to know that FIUPD will always uphold the rights of our community members and engage with them professionally, courteously, and without bias. If circumstances arise where any member of our community must interact with law enforcement, our hope is that they can and would prefer to do so with FIUPD, because our commitment is, and always has been, to serve them with integrity and care.”
Protests have continued across FIU due to the 287g agreement and in response to the aforementioned deaths in Minneapolis. A sit-in demonstration, led by the YDSA and ICEbreakers Coalition, was held on January 30th on the GC Lawns.
YDSAFIU Co-Chair Carlton Daley was one of the organizers of the event. Daley is an Engineering major at FIU. He stated he was part of the protest due to his knowledge of systemic racism and how it affected marginalized groups, such as African Americans.
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