Student, local groups release list of demands in protest of ICE and CBP visiting campus
A group of student and local groups have released a list of demands for the university following the invitation of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agencies to campus.
Movimiento Unido Estudiantil Vida Eterna, Eagle Dreamers, ICE out of Tarrant, North Texas Dream Team and Movimiento Cosecha Denton were all listed on the document, made public on MUEVE’s Twitter account, @vivamueve.
“We are calling for the University to prohibit these entities known for their human rights abuses off campus,” MUEVE said on Twitter.
Representatives of ICE and CBP were invited to attend the Criminal Justice Career Fair on March 9. The event will be held in Union Ballroom 314 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. and is an “opportunity for students to discover a wide range of careers within the field of criminal justice and meet with agency recruiters,” according to the Career Center website.
The list of demands began by informing readers this would not be the first time ICE had been on university grounds.
ICE representatives were invited to the university in 2019, which prompted similar backlash, according to the document. An open letter to university staff called out President Neal Smatresk for inviting ICE to campus despite publicly endorsing Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and undocumented students in 2017.
“We cannot tout, promote, and profit from concepts of diversity and inclusivity while alienating and distressing our DACA, undocumented, and international students, which is what inviting these agencies to the UNT campus does,” the 2019 letter stated.
The newly released list of demands criticizes the university for continuing to invite ICE and CBP on campus, despite saying it is “critically important” for the campus to be a “welcoming institution for everyone” on its Hispanic Serving Institute Initiative webpage.
“CBP and ICE are well known for their human rights abuses and contribute to devastating effects on immigrant families and communities,” the 2022 documents stated.
The 2022 letter lists more demands than its 2019 predecessor, including excusing absences of students uncomfortable with ICE’s presence, alerting the entire university once ICE and CBP representatives arrive and prohibiting immigration enforcement, collaboration and deportation activities on campus.
Just like in 2019, the letter once again asks the university to no longer allow ICE on campus. The letter also gives the university a hard deadline for a response – March 9 at 12 p.m.
The Eagle Dreamers organization will host a “safe space for DACA or undocumented students” to go to while ICE representatives are on campus on March 9. Students are invited to attend and share their stories for the duration of the career fair from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. in the Union.
Featured Image: The UNT sign stands outside of the Welcome Center on Feb. 15, 2022. Photo by Carlie Rutledge
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