Campus police departments at at least three public universities in Florida are moving to strike a deal with the federal government in hopes of deputizing their officers to carry out immigration enforcement.
Across the US in recent weeks, federal officials have revoked visas from international students for infractions ranging from accusations of domestic terrorism to speeding tickets as part of President Trump’s crackdown on immigration.
Schools in Florida are now trying to employ a new tactic to widen immigration officials’ reach and abilities on college campuses.
The expansion falls in line with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ actions supporting the Trump Administration’s massive deportation agenda, including requiring local and state agencies to use their “best efforts” to support federal immigration enforcement.
So far, Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, the University of Florida in Gainesville and the University of South Florida in Tampa are seeking to deputize their campus police specifically for immigration enforcement, representatives for the schools told The Associated Press.
“All state schools” are expected to find ways to strengthen immigration enforcement authority, per DeSantis’ directives, Joshua Glanzer, a spokesperson at FAU, said.
“We are simply following guidance from the Governor’s Feb. 19 directive to state law enforcement agencies, of which FAUPD and other state university police departments are included,” Glanzer said in a statement.
ICE recently rolled out its 287(g) program that grants “U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to delegate to state and local law enforcement officers the authority to perform specified immigration officer functions under the agency’s direction and oversight,” according to its website.
Agencies can enter into agreements with the federal government through the 287(g) program. As of April 3, only 11 states do not have an agreement either in place or under consideration.
No universities have entered into the 287(g) program yet.
There are three enforcement models available through the program. The University of Florida is pursuing the task force model, which would grant participating officers the power to interrogate “any alien or person believed to be an alien” about their right to remain in the country. It would also grant them the ability to make arrests without warrants in select cases.
The other two models, the jail enforcement model and the warrant service officer program, make it so participating agencies can expedite legal proceedings for suspected illegal immigrants.
The jail enforcement model permits officers to “identify and process removable aliens,” specifically with criminal charges, pending or proven, in their custody, according to the website.
The warrant service officer program allows participating officers to “execute administrative warrants” on immigrants in holding, according to the website.
With Post wires
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