Faculty from across Florida’s public university system are raising alarms as students and staff face revoked visas and campus police sign up to assist in federal immigration enforcement.
In a public letter, the Advisory Council of Faculty Senates, which includes faculty leaders from across Florida’s 12 public universities, asked state leaders to provide transparency and guidance to students and staff who’ve had their visas revoked.
A separate resolution from the council requests that campus police departments withdraw from cooperative agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“While these are distinct issues, both are happening at the same time and both exist in relation to Trump’s war on immigrants and fever pitch to deport immigrants with or without cause,” said William Trapani, professor of communications and faculty senate president at Florida Atlantic University.
The letter and resolution were first made public at a FAU faculty senate meeting Monday.
“What makes this situation particularly distressing is the opaque nature in which the cancellations are occurring,” the council wrote in the first letter, addressed to Chancellor Ray Rodrigues.
Rodrigues did not respond to a request for comment.
“Students were not made aware (of their visa status) by the federal government. Instead, they’re being informed by university staff,” Trapani said.
The letter requests that the state provide clear guidance on what support universities can offer students who have had their visas revoked.
“It’s a shame that the Board of Governors has been silent on this matter,” Trapani said. “We have no clarity to what will happen if a student’s visa is revoked. Can faculty keep working with a student? Will the student be allowed to continue their studies?”
At least 10 of the state’s 12 public universities have made such agreements with federal immigration authorities, according to Inside Higher Ed, including the University of Florida and the University of South Florida.
The agreements would harm campus safety and risk making international students reticent to seek medical, mental health and educational support services, according to the council’s resolution.
In a meeting at the majority-Hispanic Florida International University on Friday, FIU police department chief Alexander Casas told faculty leaders that he’d rather cooperate with ICE than have federal agents taking action on campus without his input.
“That argument strikes me as cold comfort to somebody who’s been wrongfully deported on a plane to El Salvador,” Trapani said.