Over three dozen protesters at the University of Illinois Chicago condemned immigration enforcement officials on campus and called on school leadership for stronger student protections Wednesday after U.S. Customs and Border Protection was slated to appear at a career fair earlier in the week.
The protest followed an effort by organizations around campus earlier this week calling on the university to remove the government agency from the “Meet the Firms Accounting Career Fair” hosted by UIC Business, the university’s college of business administration. Students said they learned last week that CBP might attend from an email advertising the event.
However, representatives from U.S. Customs and Border Protection did not attend the event, according to a university statement shared with the Tribune Wednesday.
The agency’s Office of Trade was “planning to participate” in the career fair, with its regulatory audit division having “attended the event for many years to recruit students,” the statement said. According to Customs and Border Protection’s website, the Office of Trade conducts audits to check for compliance with trade laws and regulations.
“UIC was informed by CBP yesterday that representatives from the Regulatory Audit Group have decided not to participate in this year’s event,” the statement said. “At no time were personnel from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or other CBP units planning to be present.”
While both agencies are part of the Department of Homeland Security, ICE “investigates immigration and customs violations and enforces immigration law” within the U.S., while Customs and Border Protection manages border security and enforces immigration law “at and between ports of entry.”
However, while UIC said the agency was planning to attend the fair, a Customs and Border Protection spokesperson denied signing up for the event in a statement to the Tribune.
“Any reports stating U.S. Customs and Border Protection was attending University of Illinois Chicago’s College of Business career fair today are false,” the statement read, adding that “the college has uninvited CBP in the past, and CBP did not attempt to sign up for the fair this year.”
“U.S. Customs and Border Protection is committed to open, ongoing engagement with the communities we serve,” the statement read. “We regularly partner with schools, community groups, industry, and the media. Outreach with public and private partners helps CBP reach the best applicants.”
In response to follow-up questions from the Tribune about whether the agency was signed up for this year’s event, UIC stated it did not “have any additional updates to provide beyond our earlier response.”
Still, on the UIC quad Wednesday morning, a crowd of students stood in a half circle and took issue with the agency being invited to the school in the wake of Operation Midway Blitz and ongoing immigration enforcement action across the city. Multiple speakers from student organizations called for more protections from the university’s administration between chants of “say it loud and say it clear, immigrants are welcome here” and “the people united will never be defeated.”
One was fourth-year student Ileanne Cecilio, who helped organize the protest and said students sent over 150 emails to the university about Customs and Border Protection attending the fair.
“We know that it’s not [ICE, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement]…but these people are complicit. They work for the agencies that were here during Midway Blitz, terrorizing our communities and killing people and tear-gassing them. It is unacceptable,” said Cecilio, who is also part of the student organization Mexican Students de Aztlán at UIC. “…[They] shouldn’t be here, regardless, recruiting our students who are Hispanic and Latino immigrants and undocumented students.”
In Cecilio’s view, the backlash from CBP’s anticipated presence at the fair helped create pressure that led to their absence. That pressure should continue to drive administrative change, including policies that protect students and allow them to feel safe and welcome, she said.
“We still have each other, and we know that we protect each other, and that the power of the people is stronger than the people in power,” Cecilio said. “Right now, that’s administration, and I know we can overcome it. I know we can get what we need…for all of our students.”
Fellow organizer and fourth-year student Angel Naranjos echoed calls for more protections for UIC immigrant students, faculty and staff. They include creating an alert system notifying students and faculty when and if ICE agents or federal immigration enforcement are on campus. The protest and CBP’s absence is a “partial victory,” he said, but there’s more work to be done.
“It’s very disappointing because I’ve been a student here since 2023. I was 18 years old and I was like, UIC is very progressive, diverse, they’re a Hispanic-serving institution, no problems, right?” Naranjos said. “I think this proved that there’s still a lot more to fight for, and so I’m feeling proud of the people who came out, feeling angry, and I’m feeling ready for what’s next.”