At a meeting of the University of South Florida faculty senate Friday, the questions from professors kept coming.
"Are our classrooms safe? Can ICE come in if they suspect that a student in our classroom is violating some immigration rule?" asked one.
"As now-designated ICE officers, what is their duty to inform the university about what is happening and where these students are going?" asked another.
"Could they be charged with the responsibility of essentially engaging in an investigation to find out whether they can come to a reasonable belief ... that people are here illegally or whatever, so that they can interrogate them and possibly detain them?" asked yet another.
A USF lawyer attempted to answer those questions, saying the type of warrant ICE typically gets would not allow classroom access, and that nothing in the agreements "overrides the obligations that the local law enforcement agency officer has to follow their own standards and policies."
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To the question of whether campus police could go looking for students who may be undocumented, the lawyer said: "I don't think so. That's something we will learn in the training."
Shortly after, the USF faculty senate voted 57-3 to ask for an end to the program.
The senate endorsed a resolution by the Florida Advisory Council of Faculty Senates, which described these ICE partnerships as "unnecessary and harmful to students, faculty, staff, and the broader communities our universities serve."
The resolution "calls on State University System institutions to withdraw from the Memoranda of Agreement (MOA) signed by Florida’s public universities with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) under the 287(g) program."
The USF faculty senate also called on the USF leadership and the USF police department to withdraw from the agreement it has made with ICE.
"We are trying to represent the faculty insight into what's best for our students and our institutions," said David Simmons, an engineering professor and the USF faculty senate president.
Simmons said all 12 universities in the Florida state university system have signed or are planning to sign an agreement of this nature with ICE, deputizing campus police to act alongside federal agents as part of a "task force."
"It erodes the kind of trust and safety that is necessary for students to be able to engage in learning and the free expression which is at the core of what we do in higher education," Simmons said.
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Faculty at Florida Atlantic University and Florida International University have also voted in favor of canceling agreements that allow campus police to help immigration agents by interrogating people suspected of being in the country illegally, and even arresting them.
The USF faculty's vote is non-binding, meaning the university doesn't have to take any action. Asked for comment, USF's communications department also pointed out the non-binding nature, and said university leadership "will review the resolution."
ICE maintains a website showing which institutions are "pending" entry into the 287(g) program, and which are fully "participating."
As of late Monday, the University of Florida, New College of Florida, University of Central Florida, Florida A&M, Northwest Florida State College, Tallahassee State College, and the University of West Florida were all on the "participating" list.
The "pending" spreadsheet listed FIU, Florida Polytechnic University, Florida Gulf Coast University, and the University of North Florida.
USF and FAU did not appear on either the participating or pending list as of late Monday.
Simmons said the list is "rapidly evolving."
"What we point out is that the agreements are harmful to campus safety. They take our police department's attention away from their core safety mission," Simmons said.
"They also create, essentially, a show-your-paper zone on our campuses, where everyone, even citizens, arguably, need to carry papers documenting their legal status so that they don't have to worry about being detained."
"I trust that the leadership of our university are going to hear that out, and I'm sure we'll have ongoing discussions."
