As the University of Florida signed an agreement to collaborate with the federal government in immigration enforcement, four students have had their visas revoked.
The move to involve campus police in immigration enforcement at the state’s flagship university and the acknowledgement of the visa revocations were reported Thursday by The Independent Florida Alligator, a student-run newspaper.
Cynthia Roldan, UF’s director of public affairs, wrote to the Florida Phoenix that she could confirm only that the university had signed the agreement to deputize campus police as immigration officers, and could not provide information about details.
She didn’t respond to a request to confirm the visa revocations.
Reports of the agreement came after ICE held Felipe Zapata Velásquez, a Colombian student on a visa at UF, at the Krome North Service Processing Center in Miami following his March 28 arrest for driving with an expired license. The 27-year-old chose to self-deport, according to the Miami Herald.
The Alligator reported that ICE listed UF as a participating entity, but the agency’s latest database of participating entities didn’t include UF.
However, after the Florida Phoenix reported that Florida Atlantic University had also sought federal authorization to arrest and question people the police suspected of living in the country without authorization, the university police department disappeared from ICE’s database.
An FAU spokesperson confirmed on April 3 that the public university in Boca Raton had submitted signed paperwork for approval from ICE.
Joshua Glazer, associate vice president for media relations and public affairs, wrote to the Phoenix last week that FAUPD and other state university police departments were expected to collaborate with ICE, per Gov. Ron DeSantis’ directive.
The University of South Florida in Tampa also plans to collaborate with ICE. Its police chief, Christopher Daniel, signed an agreement with ICE to deputize campus officers on March 24, according to a copy of the agreement published by The Oracle, USF’s student newspaper.
The public university in Tampa doesn’t appear in the ICE databases, either.
When campus police officers could start arresting people on behalf of ICE is not known. Officers must complete a 40-hour online training before certification from the federal government.
Although all sheriffs, state agencies with law enforcement officers, and dozens of city police departments around the state have signed up to participate, only approximately 1,400 state troopers have completed the training, according to a Wednesday post on X from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.
ICE has not responded to requests about the removal of the universities from its databases.
Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com.
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This article appears in Apr 10-16, 2025.
