Florida public universities have partnered with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to allow campus police to question and detain students about their immigration status.
Colleges like Miami's Florida International University (FIU) and Gainesville's University of Florida (UF) have confirmed to the press that they are participating in the controversial 287(g) program.
@irakurzban According to The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 Section 287(g), police who meet the requisite federal training standards are authorized to enforce federal immigration law under the supervision of DHS. How do you feel knowing police officers untrained in the complexities of immigration law are being sanctioned by states accepting money by the current administration? #Kurzban #KurzbanImmigrationLawSourcebook #Immigration #ImmigrationUpdates #ImmigrationLawyer #Abogado #TrumpAdministration #287g #IraKurzban #AbogadodeInmegracion
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Other universities, like Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, have already begun the process of enrolling in the 287(g) program, and schools like the University of South Florida in Tampa and the University of Central Florida in Orlando have confirmed their plans to join.
According to ICE, "The 287(g) Program enhances the safety and security of our nation's communities by allowing ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) to partner with state and local law enforcement agencies to identify and remove criminal aliens who are amenable to removal from the U.S."
The universities' cooperation with ICE follows an executive order issued in February by Republican Governor Ron DeSantis. The order authorizes local and state law enforcement agencies to question individuals about their immigration status and detain those suspected of being in the country without authorization.
It remains unclear whether this collaboration will affect individuals protected under immigration programs such as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). FIU has approximately 600 students who are DACA recipients, many of whom now face growing uncertainty about their academic futures.
International students are also seeing the effects. Between March 25 and April 10, FIU confirmed that 18 of its students and recent graduates lost their F-1 student visas, forcing them to halt their studies and, in many cases, leave the country.
In response to the visa cancellations, Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the policy, arguing that foreign nationals who engage in activities perceived as threatening to U.S. interests should face consequences.
Rubio, a Cuban-American raised in Miami, said, "If you lie, get the visa, and then engage in that kind of behaviour once you're here, we're going to revoke it."
While Florida remains the only state to implement 287(g) on this wide a scale, it follows a pattern of the Trump administration of targeting foreign nationals associated with American universities.
According to DHS, 200 law enforcement agencies of all levels have entered into 287(g) agreements with ICE, and over 40 others have agreements pending.
According to CNN, over 500 students and faculty across 88 colleges have had their visas revoked in 2025. One of the most high-profile of these cases being that of Palestinian-Syrian national, Mahmoud Khalil.
A legal permanent resident of the United States, Khalil was arrested on Columbia University campus for his participation in the pro-Palestinian protests that took place in 2024. He is currently being held by ICE, and a judge ruled last week that he can be deported.
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