Dozens of students and faculty members protested Florida International University's immigration policies at an event with President Jeannette Nuñez on Friday. As the president spoke with retired baseball star and Miami local Alex Rodriguez, students and faculty members stood up and unveiled shirts reading "ICE OFF FIU."
Outside the event, the students and faculty members chanted slogans calling on the university to abandon its agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement that has allowed school police officers to be trained to enforce immigration laws on campus.
"It's very clear that the general body here is frustrated. We're frustrated for a multitude of reasons," said Carlton Daley, a member of FIU's Young Democratic Socialists of America, who led the chants.
Daley said students are also frustrated after a leaked group chat showed many campus Republicans advocating for killing Black people, first reported by the Miami Herald. The chats also contained a long list of slurs against Jewish and LGBTQ people, and high praise for Hitler.
READ MORE: University of Florida moves to deactivate College Republicans after report of antisemitic behavior
About the racist chats, President Nuñez said in a statement that FIU does not tolerate violence, racism or antisemitism. She said that an investigation into the racist chats has been initiated by the Office of Civil Rights and the Office of Student Conduct and Academic Integrity, and that the investigation might lead to "suspension or expulsion from the university."
But for some, the statement did not go far enough. Protesting students, many of whom did not provide their names to the media, called for open dialogue about immigration as well as the leaked racist chats scandal.
"I lead one of the largest political organizations on campus. I'm a black man. Nuñez hasn't contacted me," Daley told WLRN.
In a statement, the FIU Black Student Union on Friday said that it had met with the Nuñez administration about the leaked chats, but that they urged the administration "to address the broader student body directly, rather than discussions occurring solely behind closed doors."
The Black student group continued: "Transparency and open dialogue are essential for progress. Additionally, we urge to push [sic] forward initiatives that will create intentional spaces for Black students — not only safe spaces for support, but also platforms where students can openly voice their needs, concerns and ideas for change."
"It's coalesced," explained Daley. " Why we're targeting the [agreement with ICE] directly is because that immediately jeopardizes the safety of our most vulnerable students — Black, brown, working class immigrants. And now the, the revelation of these chats saying different ways to kill black people, and there's no meaningful transparency for Black people."
The school and police department maintain that no one on campus has been detained through the partnership with ICE. What Daley and others demanded to know was more details about the partnership and the ways it is being used on campus.
"I pay tuition here," said Daley.
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