Undocumented immigrant students sparked the fire that resulted in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) self-deporting from a career fair at Rutgers University, which is one of the most ethnically diverse colleges in the nation. ICE was slated to be one of the dozens of government agencies and nonprofits at the fair, but immigrant students were having absolutely none of that shit.
"ICE's presence will most definitely disturb the Government and Public Service Career Fair by discouraging students who are concerned with their immigration status,” RU Dreamer Carlos Macazana said. “It will also surely distress students who have personal experiences regarding ICE.” In a petition, they called ICE’s presence “disturbing and unacceptable.” This week, ICE withdrew from the fair:
In a statement, ICE said it "voluntarily withdrew from participation" following a request by Rutgers officials, and added that "it is unfortunate that the university is disregarding the needs of those students who seek a career with ICE." The statement noted that Rutgers alumni work throughout the agency, including as "detention and deportation officers enforcing our nation's immigration laws.
Right, because who doesn’t want to use their college education to arrest a scientist in front of his daughter? Who doesn’t want to be decades in debt if it means getting to see the kids of the dad you deported weeping on national TV? If people are that desperate for a job with ICE, they know where to find them. But, mass deportation agents have no business being on college campuses and in schools, period, and students were right for treating this agency like the pariah it is. Good on them.
Fighting back ICE doesn’t just mean speaking out against deportations. It also means resisting any efforts to normalize this agency, which has been unleashed under the mass deportation policies of Donald Trump. We need a blue wave in 2018 to keeping fighting ICE from the top, and in the meantime we must not accept ICE in our hospitals, in our courtrooms, and especially our schools, where a new generation of young people are thriving. Keep resisting. Keep speaking out. It can work.