Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies for the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), says the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, the University of Central Florida in Orlando, the University of South Florida in Tampa, and Florida International University in Miami have reportedly signed agreements to assist the Trump administration in tackling illegal immigration.
They will help U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and give more authority to local police.
Vaughan calls it "a very interesting development."
"The Florida Legislature passed a law saying that all law enforcement agencies in Florida had to begin a 287(g) agreement with ICE, which means that they are basically deputized to carry out the functions of an immigration enforcement officer," she explains.
These campus police are signing up because they must, and Vaughan says their cooperation will provide a new force multiplier for ICE because there are so many foreign students in Florida, many of whom fall out of status or get into trouble while in school.
"The campus police would be able to help ICE figure out if the students have crossed the line and done something that would be a violation of their student visa," she says.
Noting that many students and faculty members in the U.S. have engaged in espionage or other national security-related threats, the CIS spokesperson says having the campus police understand immigration law and serve as an extension of ICE will be enormously helpful.
"A lot of times, campuses are hostile to immigration enforcement, and it's difficult for ICE to get cooperation," she laments. "But now they're going to have built-in cooperation to take care of any immigration-related problems on campuses."
As other states consider passing similar laws, Vaughan thinks ICE will soon have more help ensuring the integrity of the nation's immigration laws, resulting in fewer student visa violations.
"There are going to be some consequences for them, and that hasn't been the case for a very long time," she says.
President Trump's executive order, Protecting the American People Against Invasion, lays out the terms of the partnerships between ICE and local law enforcement. It authorizes state and local law enforcement agencies "to perform the functions of immigration officers in relation to the investigation, apprehension, or detention of aliens in the United States under the direction and the supervision of the Secretary of Homeland Security."
Under ICE's directive, trained officers at university police departments will have the authority to stop, interrogate, and arrest illegal aliens.
Vaughan says this will be less work for ICE and not that much work for the campus police.
