U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement decided to no longer participate as an employer in the University of Maryland’s spring career fair, this university wrote in a statement to The Diamondback Tuesday afternoon.
This university told The Diamondback in a statement last Thursday that ICE will not participate in the career fair. Before Thursday’s change, the agency was listed as an employer at the fair on Feb. 27 and 28, according to Handshake.
The University Career Center adheres to the National Association of Colleges and Employers’ principles for ethical professional practice and expects recruiting employers to as well, Thursday’s statement read.
This change comes one day after this university’s Student Government Association passed a bill Wednesday that urged the University Career Center to retract ICE’s invitation to the career fair.
The bill called for other actions from the university, including denying ICE officials access to non-public campus areas and refusing voluntary disclosure of any student records such as immigration status.
[Maryland releases guidance for law enforcement, health care facilities on immigration]
This university confirmed in a statement Thursday evening that SGA’s bill did not have an impact on the change.
Multiple student groups in the Anti-Imperialist Movement at UMD coalition shared a petition on Instagram Sunday and posted flyers around campus urging this university to bar the agency from the spring fair and all future career fairs.
The petition — promoted by student organizations such as this university’s Political Latinxs United for Movement and Action in Society, Students for Justice in Palestine and UMD Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines — argued that ICE’s presence at the career fair would compromise both student and employee safety.
“For the university to claim to be fostering an ‘inclusive community of care’ and having its students’ interests at heart while inviting such a predatory agency to campus reveals a complete and utter failure from the university’s administration to uphold its own values and protect its students,” the petition read.
[UMD shares guidance for interactions with federal immigration enforcement officers]
The university released updated guidance Thursday on what to do if government enforcement agents, including ICE, attempt to enter a non-public area of campus or access university records or information.
Staff are encouraged to contact University of Maryland Police at 301-405-3555 and the Office of the General Counsel at 301-405-4945 for advice while asking agents to wait in a public area, according to the guidance.
Employees are not allowed to disclose any information including immigration status, names and addresses without contacting and receiving advice from the general counsel office, the guidance read.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this story misstated the day the university released updated guidance about government enforcement agencies. This story has been updated.
