Written by Sophia Dragoo.
Today at 4 pm, students and faculty gathered to protest the appearance of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agents on campus. The rally was held by multiple student run organizations on campus including: SDS, YDSA, SFEP, and UFF.
ICE was originally on campus starting April of 2025, after UCF started complying with agreement 287g, an agreement that Florida law enforcement has to make with ICE to be trained on immigration enforcement duties, and allows local law enforcement to act as ICE agents on campus.
These protesters marched from Memory Mall to Millican Hall, to deliver a letter and petition with over 700 signatures to UCF President Alexander Cartwright, trying to encourage UCF to stand against ICE and for the protection of all students. Once the rally reached Millican Hall, multiple different students and faculty spoke for the cause and chanted. One of the multiple chants included “No fear, no hate, no ICE in our state!” and “Say it loud, say it clear, Immigrants are welcome here!”
Here is one of the chants Knight News captured at the scene.
Along with the inspiring turnout of students protesting ICE, there was also a student presence of pro-ICE rallies that followed the group to Millican Hall, these students were kept at a distance by UCF Police officers, with many of the students playing music and eating ice cream.
After multiple different people spoke, the letter was delivered by a member of the faculty, the entrance to Millican Hall was blocked off by multiple UCF PD officers. These students then marched back to Millican Hall, where the rally was concluded.
