BUZZ
University of Washington community members were in a tizzy over rumors that Immigration and Customs Enforcement may be on campus.
School officials had to reassure students that the agency, which has arrested thousands of rapists, murderers, and other criminals in the past year, was not yet on campus.
Last week, “UW community members received information through unofficial campus communications and social media alerting students that plainclothes ICE agents could be present in the U-District the coming weekend,” The Daily reported.
Rumors started after someone asked during a meeting how to respond to fears about the federal law enforcement being near the public Seattle university.
Vice Provost Danny Barrow “referenced a rumor that had been shared with him about ICE being seen in the U District area,” spokesman Vic Balta told the campus newspaper.
“He shared that only to illustrate how stressful and uncertain this moment feels for many, and why it matters that students know where to go for accurate information and support,” Balta said.
Despite the statement being about “accurate information,” sororities were quick to send out “safety chats,” alerting their members that ICE might be in the area.
“According to these messages, a vice provost of the university said he was approached and told that undercover federal agents would be present in the area,” the student newspaper reported.
“To be clear, [Barrow] did not state that ICE would be on The Ave, in general, or on specific future dates, and the UW does not have any verified information about ICE activity on or near campus at all,” Balta told the student newspaper.
Since President Trump took office and directed swift deportations against illegal immigrants, college students and schools have been worried that law enforcement would be on their campus.
At Loyola University Chicago, students mistook a census taker for an ICE agent, The Fix previously reported.
Agents were on campus at Augsburg University in Minneapolis, which caused an uproar, as school officials banded together with students to make a ruckus and tell ICE agents they were not welcome on campus.
“Without producing a warrant, an armed, masked group of ICE agents targeted an undergraduate student and confronted members of our community directly outside a residence hall,” the school stated in December. “They aimed weapons at witnesses that included staff and students while many more students watched from their windows.”
The “tactics” were “unacceptable, dangerous, and profoundly disturbing,” according to Augsburg officials.
The agents were there to arrest a student who is allegedly a convicted sex offender.
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