U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will not participate in a career fair next week at the University of Maryland, College Park after pushback from students alarmed by the Trump administration’s deportation efforts.
ICE vanished from the list of recruiters for the Feb. 27-28 event one day after the Student Government Association unanimously passed a bill asking the university to “retract its invitation” over concerns that “recent federal actions and enforcement efforts” could violate the privacy of undocumented undergraduates, employees and their families.
Student leaders said they learned about ICE’s participation in the annual jobs expo from Handshake, an online career management program restricted to students and alumni of the College Park campus.
“We believe all students regardless of immigration status should feel safe and protected in their residences, classrooms and dining halls,” Louis C. Mancuso, SGA communications director and a freshman accounting major, told The Washington Times. “We are not trying to aid or abet anyone, but we want to avoid people being afraid to attend the career fair because ICE might profile and take them into custody.”
In an email Tuesday to The Washington Times, the university said the change had nothing to do with student pressure.
“ICE has decided not to participate in the Spring Career and Internship Fair and canceled their registration,” said Rebecca Aloisi, a university spokesperson.
The Times has reached out to ICE for further comment.
ICE hasn’t reported this month the number of immigrants it has detained and/or deported. From Jan. 23 to 27, the Department of Homeland Security’s deportation force arrested 4,521 illegal immigrants, or more than 750 a day, working out to double the pace the Biden administration recorded in fiscal 2024.
University of Maryland students claim the Trump administration’s policies have created a climate of fear. Under updated school guidance released this month, ICE agents who come onto campus must wait in a public area while a staff member calls a lawyer and the Maryland State Police.
The Diamondback, the flagship university’s student newspaper, first reported ICE’s exclusion from the fair on Friday.
The paper said the Anti-Imperialist Movement at the university circulated a petition on social media on Feb. 9 and posted flyers on campus, demanding that UMD ban ICE from all future career fairs.
Political Latinxs United for Movement and Action in Society, Students for Justice in Palestine and the University of Maryland Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines promoted the petition.
The newspaper received the university’s statement confirming ICE’s withdrawal from the event on Thursday, one day after the SGA bill passed unanimously.
Besides taking up the petition’s demands, the SGA bill authorized the compilation of “updated information and resources for international, immigrant, and undocumented” students regarding their legal rights.
It also called on the university to withhold the voluntary sharing of students’ immigration status with ICE agents, develop a rapid response system for responding to “ICE-related incidents,” and ban ICE from non-public campus areas “unless legally required by a court order.”
The SGA communications manager said students began pushing for a bill after Mr. Trump issued several executive orders last month that restricted immigration and fast-tracked the deportation of suspected criminals.
“We cannot speak of internal deliberations by the university administration to which we were not party,” Mr. Mancuso said. “However, we hope our position played a role in their decision.”
• Sean Salai can be reached at ssalai@washingtontimes.com.