Twelve people made public comments supporting a bill that “strongly urges” the University Police Department to terminate its agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at a UF Student Senate meeting Tuesday evening.
The bill, which would have been heard Tuesday, did not make it to the floor for a vote due to what senators referred to as “format and technical issues.” It was introduced by Senator Andrew Larsen as an attempt to end the university’s 287(g) agreement, which gives authority for state and local law enforcement, as well as Indian tribes, to carry out immigration enforcement in lieu of ICE.
For UPD, this means ICE can provide training to the department, as outlined in the memorandum of agreement released by ICE in relation to UF.
According to Judiciary Chair Abigail Melamed, the bill failed because it didn’t meet the Judiciary Committee’s five criteria — legality, implication, constitutionality, clarity and format — not due to its contents.
“It was severely flawed in technical ways,” she said. “It could not pass to the floor because of these technical faults.”
Larsen, the author of the bill, believes the Judiciary Committee’s criteria is too vague, he said.
“The Judiciary Committee is able to strike down any legislation that it disagrees with the content of,” he said.
According to Larsen, the Judiciary Committee told him his bill failed due to possible non-compliance with a Florida statute that deals with cooperation with federal immigration authorities. The statute states local law enforcement agencies should “use best efforts to support the enforcement of federal immigration law.”
With high tensions nationwide regarding ICE after the shootings of Reneé Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, students like Marcus Branker stepped up during public comment to say the agreement UPD made with ICE was counterintuitive to making UF a safe campus.
“The events of the past few weeks have shown us ICE is not only a threat to our immigrant student body, but to everyone who challenges the unchecked authority,” Branker said.
At UF, criticisms toward ICE have been ongoing since last April, when former UF student Felipe Zapata-Velasquez was detained following a traffic stop. After six nights in the Krome North Service Processing Center, Zapata-Velasquez opted to self-deport. Since then, students have held numerous protests to demand the university end its 287(g) agreement.
Students took to the floor during public comments to express their reactions at the failure of the bill.
At next week’s meeting, Vision Senator Marco Salvador will be introducing a bill related to helping international students on campus, according to Judiciary Committee Chair Melamed. But some students, like 19-year-old UF psychology freshman Makani Viator Bugarin, don’t believe bills like Salvador’s address real issues.
“You can create initiatives for international students as much as you want, but if you’re not taking away the one thing that puts international students at harm, you’re not really helping them,” she said.
Jennifer Chistik, a 21-year-old UF accounting junior, also spoke during public comment, doing so partly in Spanish to honor her Argentinian roots.
“I have friends from Venezuela, Guatemala … some of them aren’t citizens,” Chistik said. “I don’t feel as threatened, but my friends, they are directly threatened.”
Students also expressed their disappointment at the bill not passing because of their own personal experiences in dealing with immigration enforcement.
One such student was Melissa Orozco, who spoke during public comment. She said her own parents were taken by immigration authorities when she was young, which forced her to navigate life alone, solidifying why she believed speaking about the bill was important.
Orozco also went on to speak about the effects of not ending the 287(g) agreement at UF.
“A university should never feel like a place where your presence is questioned or where your identity puts a target on your back,” Orozco said.
Others also felt deeply connected to the bill because of their profession, like Tatiana Gonzalez, a 20-year-old UF nursing junior who was inspired to speak after the shooting of intensive care nurse Alex Pretti.
“As nurses, our duty and what we take an oath for is to protect those around us,” said Gonzalez. “If someone who is willing to protect others can be murdered ... then who’s safe?”
Contact Nevaeh at nbakerharris@alligator.org. Follow her on X @nbakerharris.
Nevaeh Baker Harris is a first-year sports and media journalism major and The Alligator's Spring 2026 Student Government reporter. In her free time, she enjoys watching medical dramas, reading horror novels, and listening to 90s rock music.
