ICE is on Santa Fe College’s doorstep. While the agency has yet to knock on its door, faculty and students are wondering what a potential agreement with immigration enforcement means for their safety.
In January, schools and churches lost the protection of being “sensitive” locations, or places where ICE is usually restricted from immigration enforcement actions.
The Santa Fe Board of Trustees votes on May 20 whether to sign a 287(g) Task Force Model memorandum of agreement with the agency, a legally binding contract that would allow Santa Fe Police Department officers to act as immigration officers under ICE’s supervision.
The possible collaboration took many by surprise.
Student concerns
Aleeza Carruthers, a 29-year-old Santa Fe health services administration senior and the Santa Fe Student Senate President, said she’s worried the deal will shatter trust between SFPD and the student body.
“ I would like the administration to know that if this is signed, students are going to be afraid, and there's not really a way to talk their way out of that,” Carruthers said. “It is going to create more fear than it fixes.”
The college’s lack of effort to inform students about the agreement concerned Student Body President John Paul Dishinger. The 19-year-old Santa Fe business administration sophomore said he only found out about the deal because a professor had told him about it.
“ That was a major failure by the administration of Santa Fe to not inform the students,” Dishinger said. “This is a really serious situation, right? The students deserve to know.”
He then spread the word on the Santa Fe United Instagram. He thinks it was much scarier for students to find out from him than the college because he doesn’t have all the facts, he said.
But lack of communication isn’t his only concern. Dishinger said the agreement’s vague wording opens the door to racial profiling, such as how the term “alien” is defined in the contract.
“[SFPD is] still going to be federal agents now, and their scope of power is going to be extended,” he said.
The meeting
The Santa Fe Faculty Senate held a meeting May 13, where representatives discussed the potential agreement with SFPD Chief Ed Book and Santa Fe President Paul Broadie II.
Faculty questioned the wording and implications of each section. Several staff members expressed concerns and disagreed with the deal.
Santa Fe received a partnership offer from ICE in February, but the college declined to participate at the time.
The Florida Department of Education sent out information to universities and colleges about signing an updated agreement on April 21, Broadie said. By May 1, a draft was placed on the board agenda.
Regardless of whether the agreement is signed, Broadie said Santa Fe will communicate with students so they understand what an agreement entails.
The majority of the memorandum of agreement points to identifying illegal activities and individuals that pose a risk to public safety, he said.
The deal means ICE will likely go to SFPD first before taking any action on campus, Chief Book said. However, he doubts ICE will come onto campus frequently, as they would only be going after serious criminals.
“ Any law enforcement is going to come first to Santa Fe College Police Department,” Book said. “Why? We know our college community. We know where people are. We know what people do. We interact with them in a professional, respectful way.”
Book said he recognizes the deal has caused concern and anxiety for many, but he said the college’s priority is keeping the campus community safe.
Tre Mobley, a 25-year-old Santa Fe journalism sophomore, said he was anxious when he first learned the college might be signing a deal with ICE. However, he said it’s reassuring to know SFPD would be the first point of contact.
“ If I had to choose between Santa Fe Police, who I am comfortable with and I know, getting ICE training, instead of an outside source, I will go with Santa Fe Police every time,” Mobley said.
Still, he isn’t happy these are the only two options, he said. He questioned the deal’s true motive, believing it seems geared toward spreading fear.
Uncertainty
Jasmine Reyes, a 22-year-old Santa Fe health sciences sophomore, was shocked when she found out about the deal. She thought of Santa Fe as being very diverse and progressive, she said.
“ I don't see how this benefits the students or the school in any sort of way,” Reyes said. “If anything, I think it makes their students feel unwelcomed and unsafe in their institution.”
She thinks there’s going to be much less foot traffic on campus. Students might switch to online classes or even look into other schools that haven’t signed with ICE, she said.
“ It's really going to deter people from going here,” she said.
David Price, a Santa Fe history and political science professor, said he is opposed to the agreement because he thinks there is no reason for legal enforcement or arrests on campus.
It also isn’t clear whether ICE will notify the college if it comes to campus, Price said.
But he added he understands the college is signing the deal because jobs might be on the line.
“ The leadership is caught between a rock and a hard place,” he said.
If Santa Fe doesn’t move forward with the deal, Price said Gov. Ron DeSantis has the power to remove the college’s leadership. If the deal is delayed further, he said ICE has legal authority to come on campus without notifying SFPD.
Still, Price is concerned by the college’s rush to sign a deal with ICE.
“I'm somewhat baffled why it's so important that we sign this immediately as is without any dialogue about it,” he said.
Alex Siwiecki, an assistant professor of English at Santa Fe, was surprised to hear about the agreement. Santa Fe held out against ICE for so long, he said.
Siwiecki attended the Santa Fe Faculty Senate meeting virtually, and he said it wasn’t clear to him whether the college was required to sign the agreement just because it has a police department.
Paired with the delay in financial aid refunds, Siwiecki said students’ reaction to the deal could mean Santa Fe loses enrollment numbers, especially because of the school’s almost 25% Latino population.
The college had communication lapses in the past, Siwiecki said, but it could have explained the deal to the general body directly, instead of through the rumor mill.
The administration has the opportunity to create trust by having an open forum to make a direct attempt at communicating with students, he said.
During a time when there is a lot of fear surrounding ICE and unlawful deportations, communication from leadership is important, he said. People are upset because they don’t want to see anyone they care about deported.
“ Nothing is worse than thinking that you can just be removed and disappeared,” Siwiecki said.
Contact Maria Avlonitis at mavlonitis@alligator.org. Follow her on X @MariaAvlonitis.
