You may not know, but ICE might be coming to your campus. Just over the past two months, two prominent universities in Maryland —- University of Maryland and Towson University —- have invited the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to their upcoming career and internship fairs. However, the students at both universities have petitioned and protested the removal of ICE’s presence at these events and on their campuses. According to Towson University’s student-led newspaper, The Towerlight, the “Towson Latin American Student Association petition[ed] school officials to remove a branch of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from participating in an internship and job fair” on campus, in which the “petition to ‘Keep ICE Out of Towson’ [had] garnered over 2,300 signatures as of [February 23rd].” I got the experience to speak with one of the writers at the Her Campus chapter at Towson University, Amie Yansane, on her experience around the petition at her school. “As a student, the reason for the petition was to mainly keep ICE off of Towson’s campus. This primarily included ICE’s presence at the student employment fair, which would have a large student body present, possibly including undocumented migrant students.” She continued to add how the impact of her school’s Her Campus chapter helped spread the word to students on campus, including hearself, and how the atmosphere on campus shifted.. “I first heard about this petition on Instagram from [our] Her Campus [chapter]. We believe as a campus chapter we should support and uphold the values of cultural clubs at Towson, especially during periods of political tensions like these. When the word spread, I noticed a lot more people speaking up about the rights of undocumented migrants, which is refreshing. Whenever I’m on social media, I always encounter such xenophobic comments about the migrant community, so noticing the support for migrants is encouraging.” Lastly, she commented on the importance of this student led petition, and how people from all backgrounds and fields alike can join together to help the cause. “I think it’s important to voice concerns as students because, as common as it is to say, students are the future. These are future legislators and judges. By expressing these thoughts, we let them know they have power and control over the political climate in this country. Writers can help this cause by continuing to write! Writers before us did the same thing and we can learn from that. They wrote as a form of protest and resistance, which was effective and set a foundation for present and future writers!”. As for the University of Maryland, according to their student-led newspaper, The Diamondback, “About 100 University of Maryland community members marched across campus Wednesday to protest this university’s willingness to host ICE and defense contractors as employers at the Spring Career Fair.” Although students from both universities were successful in their efforts to remove ICE from their campuses, these are only two universities in the entire nation who are continuously inviting ICE to school events and searches for undocumented students. This occurred most recently in New York City at Columbia University, where ICE detained Palestinian protester Mahmoud Khalil and despite being documented, revoked his green card for his participation in the campus protests. This increase in ICE presence on campus comes after a direct order from President Trump signed on January 20th that ended ICE avoiding “‘sensitive areas’ – including elementary and secondary schools, colleges, hospitals and churches — for enforcement actions.” Even though universities and colleges are supposed to prioritize the safety and wellbeing of their students, they are actively choosing not to by inviting organizations that compromise student safety, like ICE. Even if your university is diverse, or in a diverse area, that does not mean you or your school is safe. Take St. John’s University, located in Queens, New York City, considered one of the most diverse places in the world. They have invited ICE to their upcoming “Careers in Social Service; Government, Law Enforcement, and Non-Profit Expo” career fair coming up in the following weeks. Seeing how diverse this school and the area is, this comes to a surprise that the university would invite them with open arms, even advertising them as employers. Personally, knowing many international and first-gen students who attend this school, this comes as a huge concern for our student safety and makes me question the intention of the St. John’s Career Services and the Government and Politics Department’s intentions behind this invite. Students deserve to feel safe and protected while pursuing higher education, and universities continuously inviting harmful organizations to their campuses and events not only doesn’t help students, but creates a dangerous and hostile on-campus environment. If schools like Columbia and St. John’s University, being located in one of the most diverse cities in the world, or Towson University and University of Maryland, being located in one of the most democratic and progressive states in the country, are willing to endanger their students by letting ICE have direct access to them, I can’t begin to imagine what doors have now been open for ICE at universities in more conservative or less diverse communities across the nation. Many students who are working towards building a better future for themselves and this country are now vulnerable and in danger.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at St. John's chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.