The University of North Florida’s agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been approved and finalized, according to ICE records, officially allowing UPD officers to be trained for immigration enforcement.
In early March, UNF Police Chief Frank Mackesy signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA), which ICE signed and returned to the university on July 7. The now-finalized agreement would allow UNFPD officers to enforce federal immigration laws.
On Monday afternoon, Spinnaker was made aware of the finalized agreement and requested a statement from a UNF spokesperson at 3:25 p.m. that same day. At 5:21 p.m., UNF President Moez Limayem sent a university-wide email notifying the campus of the finalized agreement—seven days after the agreement was finalized. At the time of publication, Spinnaker has yet to receive a response from the UNF spokesperson.
Before any UNF officers are given any acting authority, they must complete mandatory training provided by ICE instructors and pass tests equivalent to those given to ICE officers, according to the MOA. In his email, Limayem said no such training has been scheduled for UNF officers and provided links to ICE FAQ pages.
“At this time, none of UNF’s University Police Department (UPD) officers have been trained by ICE, and no training has been scheduled. UPD continues to conduct business as usual,” Limayem said in the email.
According to government records for participating agencies, 10 of the 12 Florida public universities have finalized their agreements with ICE including:
- The University of North Florida
- Florida A&M University
- Florida Gulf Coast University
- Florida International University
- Florida Polytechnic University
- New College of Florida
- The University of Central Florida
- The University of Florida
- The University of South Florida
- The University of West Florida
UNFPD, among other Florida university police departments, agreed to participate in the task force model under the national 287(g) program. The 287(g) program allows state and local law enforcement to carry out federal immigration enforcement through one of its three models. UNFPD and other Florida police departments agreed to the task force model as directed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in February, which allows state and local authorities to approach and potentially arrest individuals who have no prior engagement with ICE.
Spinnaker also reached out to UNFPD Monday afternoon and is awaiting a response.
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