Colleges typically only get in the headlines for the wrong reasons.
But something special is brewing in the Sunshine State.
And colleges in Florida made one startling decision that had Donald Trump jumping for joy.
Campus police departments look to help ICE with immigration enforcement
Florida is leading the charge to help President Donald Trump carry out mass deportation of illegal aliens.
A sweeping anti-illegal immigration law signed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in February mandated that state and local law enforcement work with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The 287(g) program allows state and local law enforcement to be deputized to enforce immigration law under the direction of ICE.
All 67 county sheriff’s offices and multiple state law enforcement agencies, including the Florida Highway Patrol and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
Three police departments at public universities in Florida have applied to participate in the 287(g) program.
Florida Atlantic University, the University of South Florida, and the University of Florida have requested to have campus police deputized to enforce immigration law.
These would be the first colleges in the country to join the 287(g) program.
Florida Atlantic spokesman Joshua Glanzer noted that DeSantis issued a memorandum that “all state schools” are expected to beef up their immigration enforcement.
“We are simply following guidance from the Governor’s Feb. 19 directive to state law enforcement agencies, of which FAUPD and other state university police departments are included,” Glanzer stated.
The 287(g) program offers three models of participation: the Task Force Model, the Warrant Service Officer program, and the Jail Enforcement Model.
University of Florida’s campus police will participate in the Task Force Model, which allows them to question suspects about their immigration status and make arrests in certain situations.
The Jail Enforcement Model and Warrant Service Officer program allows state and local law enforcement to process illegal aliens who have already been arrested for other crimes.
Florida college student deported by ICE
Immigration enforcement is already happening against college students in Florida.
27-year-old University of Florida student Felipe Zapata Velasquez was arrested near campus in March for driving with a suspended license and a vehicle with expired registration.
He had his license suspended after he was arrested in 2023 for driving with expired registration and without a valid license.
Velasquez had previously been cited for speeding and never paid the tickets.
He was a native of Colombia who was in the United States on a student visa.
“There goes his ability to get another visa, though,” police officer Tyler Allen told another cop in a bodycam video of Velasquez’s arrest.
ICE agents arrested him and took him to Jacksonville, where he was given the option of self-deporting or waiting in custody for his court case to play out.
His mother released a statement to Spanish-language media saying her son had returned home to Colombia.
She was unsure if her son would ever be allowed to return to the United States.
Florida is becoming the tip of the spear for the enforcement of immigration laws at the state level.
DeSantis Daily will keep you up-to-date on any new developments in this ongoing story.
