Recruitment events event occurred in both cities on Jan. 13 and 14, which local organizers quickly countered with planned protests.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Information about the event in Tampa was posted to the University of South Florida Center for Career and Professional Development website and the job platform, Handshake. And though the event did not take place on campus, the posts prompted mass disapproval among USF students.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In a joint Instagram post<\/a>, USF St. Petersburg and Tampa College Democrats made it plain: \u201cICE GET THE F*CK OFF OUR CAMPUS.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n That same Instagram post is how a USF St. Petersburg environmental policy junior, who preferred to remain anonymous, found out about the event.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt feels like a slap in the face to minority students on campus,\u201d he told The Crow\u2019s Nest.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The USF chapter of the Students for a Democratic Society made a similar Instagram post<\/a>, announcing a date and time of a planned protest on Jan. 13, where they demanded USF cut ties with ICE.\u00a0<\/p>\n Last year, The Crow\u2019s Nest reported<\/a> that USF signed the 287(g) agreement, a federal program that allows ICE to partner with local law enforcement \u2014 though ICE has yet to sign the agreement.\u00a0<\/p>\n Protests in St. Petersburg<\/a> earlier this month hosted by faith leaders in front of the St. Petersburg Police Department demanded that the city\u2019s police department pull out of their agreement, which they signed last February. \u00a0<\/p>\n With 67 counties, Florida is the only state in where all of its counties have agreed to partner with ICE.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cICE OFF CAMPUS!\u201d it read. \u201cSanctuary campus now, no deportations, legalization for all, solidarity with Minneapolis,\u201d also highlighting that the Border Patrol recruitment event comes just a week after 37-year-old American citizen Renee Good was shot and killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in Minneapolis.\u00a0<\/p>\n Though they are both under the Department of Homeland Security, U.S Customs and Border Patrol and ICE are two distinct agencies.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Border Patrol typically operates within 100 miles of the U.S.\u2019s immediate borders and airports. ICE operates within the country, far from the immediate border and is mostly responsible for enforcing removal orders.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Still, students believe their reaction is justified.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cSince there have been so many reports of abuse of power within border patrol and ICE, seeing USF allow this behavior and recruitment on campus fosters an unsafe and untrustworthy view of the school in my mind,\u201d USF St. Petersburg graphic arts senior Morgan Nieman told The Crow\u2019s Nest.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The environmental science and policy junior agrees.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s twinnem,\u201d he said, interlocking his pointer and middle finger, representing the relationship between Border Patrol and ICE.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not like they work independently,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd it\u2019s not like their goals aren\u2019t the same thing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n As the federal immigration crackdown progresses, the lines between border patrol and ICE are blurring; Border Patrol agents are being utilized within the U.S. borders and becoming more involved in the enforcement tactics used by ICE.\u00a0<\/p>\n A USF St. Petersburg freshman, who also preferred to remain anonymous, said it felt uncomfortable being in proximity to border patrol.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cTheir strategies and their claims, I don\u2019t think they\u2019re backed up by anything. I just don\u2019t agree with the violence and the death that it\u2019s causing. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s necessary. It\u2019s just really sad to see,\u201d she said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Nieman also said that promoting recruitment to college students feels intentional.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201c\u2026We are still easily influenceable and looking for our place in the world. ICE or Border Patrol can use this vulnerability of instability in life and career to recruit students,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n The environmental policy junior said it\u2019s comparable to military recruitment on high school campuses.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAnd this is a way that they can reliably make money,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd they take advantage of that. And that sucks.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Written by: Alisha Durosier<\/a> on January 15, 2026.
Last revised by: Julia Ferrara<\/a>