Dozens of community members marched through the Florida Atlantic University Boca Raton campus’ Breezeway on Sept. 5 in protest of the university’s partnership with Immigration and Customs Enforcement under the 287(g) immigration enforcement program.

From “We’re stronger together!” to “Campus, not prison!” marchers chanted as they made their way through the campus. With the protest culminating in front of the Kenneth R. Williams Administration Building, protesters were met with differing perspectives.

Under the program, ICE and participating law enforcement agencies “identify and remove criminal aliens who are amenable to removal from the U.S.,” according to ICE’s website.

The University Press reported that FAU’s police department officially began participation in the 287(g) program on July 24. In April, the student group Solidarity led a round of protests tied to the same decision.

FAU College Democrats organized what they called an “ICE Off Campus” protest. Nicholas Ostheimer, who is the FAU chapter president and a senior political science major, told the University Press that this protest is a call to action for FAUPD to terminate their agreement with ICE.

“This is an extremely unpopular agreement. We know that it’s a terrible decision for the student body,” said Ostheimer. “We want the Board of Trustees and the FAU police department to know that we are willing to organize against it.”

According to ICE’s website, under the Warrant Service Officer section of the 287(g) program, ICE agents train, certify and authorize state and local law enforcement officers to serve and execute administrative warrants on aliens in their agency’s jail.

The university is following Governor Ron DeSantis’ law enforcement directive on Feb. 19, which pushes for organizations in Florida to work with immigration enforcement.

“All state law enforcement agencies are expected to follow the governor’s Feb. 19 directive on working with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. This includes FAUPD and other state university police departments,” wrote a spokesperson to the University Press on April 3.

As of Sept. 5, FAU officials didn’t respond in time for publication to provide more details on the exact date that the campus police department will start carrying out the duties of immigration enforcement.

The 287(g) program is voluntary, according to the ICE website.

According to the State University System of Florida’s website, FAU is among 12 other Florida universities that have officially finalized their agreement with the 287(g) program.

Before the official protest, a resolution written by parliamentarian Lina Vasquez-Baron was proposed to communicate the student body’s disapproval of the university’s 287(g) program partnership.

The resolution opposed any FAUPD involvement in the program and urged the university administration and Board of Trustees not to participate in the 287(g) program. However, 10 out of 14 representatives voted against the resolution, so it failed on Aug. 29.

During the meeting, Faisal Albaldawi, one of the House representatives who voted against the resolution, said he felt the resolution was above the Student Government’s authority and that passing the resolution would risk making FAU look like an anti-state and anti-government university.

While anti-ICE protesters lined the Breezeway, student organization Turning Point USA at FAU set up shop in the crowd to hand out “ICE” drinks and share their opinion.

Turning Point president Nick Coyte, a senior studying political science, said the purpose of their presence at the protest was to spread the word about the misconceptions about ICE.

“Looks like College Dems are a little confused about ICE. So we’re cooling things down and setting the record straight,” wrote Turning Point on their Instagram post on Sept. 4.

“ICE is one of the largest law enforcement groups in the country at the moment, and they don’t just deport people. They also combat human trafficking, they also combat drug trafficking, and sex trafficking,” said Coyte, “A lot of this sentiment I think comes from a place of not understanding.”

As Turning Point was protesting against the FAU College Democrats’ ICE demonstration, the vice president of College Democrats, Alexander Lambridis, lent his opinion on Turning Point’s counterprotest.

“There are some Turning Point members I enjoy talking to, some who put up good faith arguments. I don’t have a reaction to them, we’re neutral,” said the political science major in reaction to the counterprotest.

Coyte spoke to their relationship, saying that College Democrats can be hostile towards Turning Point. “I know that the executives in the Democrats can be quite rude and resentful towards opposing perspectives, and we just want to keep a level head,” said Coyte.

Noelle Mattiace, a former employee of Turning Point USA and current representative for Leadership Institute, attended the protest alongside Turning Point USA at FAU. Mattiace expressed that the group doesn’t endorse any political candidate but is in agreement with the conservative viewpoints of the Trump administration.

“They are here illegally, taking up a lot of resources,” Mattiace said. “I think that if you’re not here legally, you should probably go back to where you came from.”

Karen Leader, an art history professor, spoke out at the protest against the 287(g) program.

“This is deeply hypocritical,” said Leader in reaction to FAU’s partnership in the 287(g) program. “Our diversity comes from that population of immigrants, and now they’ve flipped it. Apparently, diversity doesn’t matter.”

Jordan Thompson, an FAU student in the Ph.D. program, also marched alongside civilians and students against ICE’s presence on campus.

“It’s unacceptable that the FAUPD voluntarily started a contract with ICE,” Thompson said. “To be a student here, you have to give your Social Security number or a valid visa number. We tout ourselves as the most diverse university in Florida. We can’t have it both ways.”

“I-C-E! We don’t want your company!” Ostheimer led the crowd.

This isn’t the last that FAU will see of protests against the university’s participation in the 287(g) program. Ostheimer plans that this protest is just the first step of getting FAU to part ways with ICE.

“We think introducing this conversation into the mainstream and showing that it’s okay to oppose the agreement, that more groups and more faculty will speak out and join us,” said Ostheimer. “This protest is just one part of a pressure campaign to try to get FAU to terminate the agreement.”

Kaii Thompson is the Culture Reporter for the University Press. For more information on this or other stories, you can contact Thompson at kaiiliburdthompson@gmail.com or direct message her @kaiiliburd on Instagram.

Ava Hilton is the Copy Desk Chief for the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email ava.hilton13@gmail.com or direct message her @a.vahilton10 on Instagram.