Florida universities join statewide push to partner with ICE on immigration enforcement

Several universities in Florida have signed agreements to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement amid an ongoing push by state leaders to aid the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration.

Several universities in Florida have signed agreements to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement amid an ongoing push by state leaders to aid the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration. The University of Florida said Friday it has signed the 287(g) agreement that allows local law enforcement to act as immigration officers. “We can confirm that we have signed the 287(g) agreement,” a spokesperson for the university told CNN. Under the agreement, ICE delegates to local officers “the authority to perform specified immigration officer functions under the agency’s direction and oversight,” according to the Department of Homeland Security. The move comes as the Trump administration continues to target foreign nationals affiliated with prestigious American universities. The earliest high-profile cases focused on those accused of supporting terror organizations, as was the case with Mahmoud Khalil’s arrest following pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University. By CNN’s count, more than 525 students, faculty and researchers across across 88 colleges and universities have had their visas revoked this year, as an increasing number of student deportation threats involve the revocation of visas based on relatively minor offenses like years-old misdemeanors. Four University of Florida students have had their visas revoked, the university’s director of public affairs told CNN Friday.