Pensacola State College is the latest Florida institution to sign an agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to allow its campus police department to enforce immigration laws, following the lead of more than a dozen other public institutions across the state.
The agreement is still pending, according to an ICE database.
So far, Florida is the only state in the country where colleges and universities have signed agreements with ICE. Republican governor Ron DeSantis and other state officials have taken a hard line on immigration, joining the Trump administration in an aggressive push to crack down on undocumented immigrants.
Multiple universities in the state signed 287(g) agreements in April to allow ICE to delegate immigration enforcement powers to other law enforcement agencies, such as campus police. Florida State College at Jacksonville signed a similar agreement in August.
“We initiated the first step with a letter requesting to have our police chief go through the ICE certification training. The next step was to submit an MOU. It is now up to the ICE director to make a decision,” Pensacola State College spokesperson Sheila Nichols wrote by email.
With a new academic year underway, students have protested ICE agreements at some campuses, including Florida Atlantic University, where more than 100 demonstrated last week.
