BUZZ
Graduate workers union says campus is ‘safer’ without border patrol agency
U.S. Customs and Border Protection will no longer appear at the University of Maine’s annual All Majors Career Fair on Wednesday after students and graduate employees demanded the agency’s removal, according to the student newspaper.
The university Career Center website no longer lists the federal agency among the employers attending, The Maine Campus reports.
University officials did not respond to inquiries about whether the border patrol agency removed itself from the event or was disinvited. However, Gracie Gebel, vice president of the campus Jewish Voice for Peace chapter, said the agency “pulled out of the Career Fair,” according to the student newspaper.
Last week, several progressive student groups and the UMaine Graduate Workers Union urged the public institution to disinvite the border patrol agency, according to the report.
In a post on Instagram, the UM Graduate Workers Union also called for students to boycott the career fair.
“Our campus community is safer without CBP on campus. It’s UMaine’s responsibility to protect all students and employees from possible targeting. We demand CBP be uninvited from this event!” the union wrote.
Additionally, unfounded rumors circulated on campus that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement would raid the university during the career fair, the student newspaper reports.
The panic prompted student government Senator Casper Cowan to urge fellow student leaders to help stop the rumors, which he described as “misinformation.”
Meanwhile, Samantha Warren, chief external and governmental affairs officer for the university system, said administrators are working with campus police to make sure the career fair is safe and welcoming.
“Consistent with our planning for this event in the past and for any large gathering we host on campus, university leaders are working closely with the UMaine Police Department to ensure a safe, inclusive and productive event focused on student success,” Warren told the newspaper.
The border patrol agency works closely with ICE, which has been the subject of numerous recent protests on college campuses across the U.S. after agents shot two individuals in Minnesota this winter.
In January, George Washington University Law School refused to disinvite ICE from its career fair despite similar protests from students, The College Fix reported.
However, ICE withdrew from another event at the Arizona State University Law School in January after students created a petition protesting its presence, The Fix reported.
