3.4.19
Justice Fair at UNT
ICE-Out Coalition
@ UNT Library Mall

In counter protest to UNT’s Criminal Justice Fair where the university invited U.S. Customs and Border Patrol and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a “Justice Fair” was held on Monday to provide resources and information about immigration. According to an article in the DRC, CBP was the only organization of the two that was present at the criminal justice fair. The Justice Fair was hosted by the ICE-Out Coalition, a group consisted of several organizations and community members who do work surrounding this topic.

The Justice Fair took place at the Library Mall from 1 to 4 p.m. Preceding the Justice Fair, ICE-Out Coalition created a petition calling on UNT officials to better support students who are impacted by immigration policy. The has petition garnered over 1,300 supporters. At 4 p.m., the group had a meeting with UNT Provost Jennifer Cowley immediately after the Justice Fair to present the petition and some testimonials. According to a press release from ICE-Out Coalition, “the meeting concluded with Provost Crowley committing to take the concerns of the petitioners to President Neal Smatresk and to follow up with the petitioners at a later date.”

To the people who think the presence of CBP and ICE on UNT campus is simply a way to provide jobs to students, Mari Nuñez-Janes, a member of ICE-Out said the presence of these organization is not harmless.

“You have to kind of understand that ICE and CBP focus on enforcement, and that enforcement is a priority in the Trump administration,” Nuñez-Janes said. “We have students who are documented or undocumented that the university has pledged to support. So, part of that means providing for their emotional and safety support, so to have ICE and CBP on campus threatens the safety and emotional support of those students.”

“The Department of Homeland Security in 2011 issued a sensitive locations memorandum for enforcement and so they designated campuses, churches, hospitals, schools a sensitive location for enforcement. So those were places where they were going to think twice if they were going to do enforcement, so they themselves have acknowledged what happens in a context like this one - an educational context.”

Nuñez-Janes said she is hopeful that UNT will continue to translate support into actual actions and practices.

Header image design by Kylie Phillips.