![\"Protests](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/2024-08-12T222721Z_2009868286_RC2HE9AEDW97_RTRMADP_3_ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS-USA.jpg\" "\\"Columbia")
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People are asked to show their passes to enter Columbia University as campus access is restricted ahead of the new school year in New York City, U.S., August 12, 2024. REUTERS\/Adam Gray<\/p>\n
Columbia University has revised its job fair policy after it promoted a federal government event on its School of Professional Studies (SPS) website, amNewYork has learned.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Ivy League school, which has been at the center of headline-making anti-ICE protests<\/a> in recent weeks, listed a \u201cvirtual career expo\u201d by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the U.S. Department of Homeland Security\u2019s (DHS) border patrol arm. DHS also oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations nationwide.<\/p>\n According to a listing about the Feb. 18 event, which was scrubbed from the school\u2019s website following an amNewYork inquiry, CBP recruiters will be available online via live chat in job-specific booths to discuss career opportunities within the government agency. Other DHS agencies are scheduled to attend.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019re looking for an opportunity in federal law enforcement, including entry-level applicants and those with one or more years in law enforcement and\/or with military background, this is the perfect event for you,\u201d the listing states. \u201cU.S. Customs and Border Protection is seeking skilled and dedicated professionals interested in mission support roles in intelligence, criminal investigation, international trade, procurement, facilities management, forensics, engineering, business administration and more.\u201d<\/p>\n Columbia University was at the center of controversy and public outcry after one of its students, pro-Palestinian protestor Mahmoud Khalil<\/a>, was detained multiple times by ICE between 2025 and 2026. He is scheduled to be deported, likely to Algeria, pending litigation.<\/p>\n Columbia staff member asks why should school associate \u2018with a Gestapo\u2019<\/p>\n One Columbia staff member told amNewYork under condition of anonymity that he was furious when he found out the school was promoting a CBP job fair.<\/p>\n \u201cICE is proving itself to be depraved, abusing people all the time, murdering people<\/a>, offering nothing good,\u201d the staffer said. \u201cSo why does Columbia want to have its students associated with a Gestapo?\u201d<\/p>\n Gail, a Manhattan resident who lives near Columbia, expressed concern about the listing, citing a personal connection to ongoing ICE raids across the country. She told amNewYork that her family in Minnesota was directly affected by immigration enforcement operations in Minneapolis, where federal agents shot and killed 37-year-old Alex Pretti during an altercation with ICE on Jan. 24.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t want anything to do with ICE anywhere, close to anywhere, I live,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019ve seen how horrible it is for my family in Minneapolis.\u201d\n<\/p>\n On Thursday, Trump \u201cBorder Czar\u201d Tom Homan announced that ICE is winding down its immigration surge in Minnesota.<\/a><\/p>\n In response to the public outcry over the CBP job fair listing, a spokesperson for Columbia clarified that the SPS is neither hosting the job fair nor conducting it in partnership with the CBP. The spokesperson explained that the event was promoted through \u201c12twenty<\/a>,\u201d a third-party service used by higher-education institutions to disseminate job fair and career opportunities to students on various schools\u2019 websites.\u00a0<\/p>\n An early statement from Columbia about the job expo said the SPS does not \u201ccontrol or select\u201d the employers available on the 12twenty network.\n<\/p>\n But the explanation failed to quell the unrest, prompting a change in the university\u2019s policy. Columbia now says it will focus on promoting its own SPS events.\n<\/p>\n