Chicago IL – Over 150 students, faculty and community mobilized at the University of Illinois at Chicago Quad on Wednesday, September 23, to protest the UIC administration for inviting U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to recruit at the Business Career Fair and to demand that UIC declare itself a sanctuary campus.

The protest, organized by Mexican Students de Aztlán (MeSA) with the support of multiple campus organizations, forced CBP to quietly withdraw from the event.

The action came after students received Handshake (a university jobs board) notifications inviting them to meet with border patrol recruiters at the career fair.

MeSA issued a call for the UIC community to demand that Chancellor Marie Lynn Miranda, the UIC administration and the College of Business revoke the invitation and make a public statement to the community. Within hours, the administration shut down phone lines as students, staff and community members flooded the chancellor's office with calls and emails. CBP announced it would not attend, but the administration refused to formally revoke the invitation.

MeSA speakers made it very clear that CBP's backing out from the event was a victory won by student organizing. And that the administration is at fault for it.

“The only reason those pigs aren't here right now is because of our efforts, your efforts,” said Lupe Lara Guzman, a co-lead of MeSA's ERA Committee.

Guzman continued, “Chancellor Miranda was perfectly fine with their attendance as long as they followed proper guidelines. Chancellor Miranda: was CBP following proper guidelines when they murdered Silverio Villegas González last September? Or when they abducted two women off of our campus last October? Have they been following proper guidelines as they continue to terrorize our communities every single day? You cannot hide behind protocol, Chancellor Miranda. Your neutrality and silence is complicity. More than that, it is disgusting, morally abhorrent, and shameful.”

Kalin Daniel of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) told the crowd, “The harm was done the moment that invitation was sent. The fact that CBP declined does not erase the fact that UIC administration wanted them here. It does not erase the fact that they viewed an agency of state violence as a 'suitable employer' for our students.”

Kayla Nguyen, a member of Freedom Road Socialist Organization stated, “As a rapid responder myself, I see the on-the-ground impacts of these racists on Chicago's streets every day.”

Nguyen continued, “We see CPD allowing ICE to stage in the 17th District police department parking lot. We see CPD racially profiling and targeting Mexican families celebrating Independence Day. We see them handing snacks and water to ICE and CBP at Broadview. This system is fucking broken, and we fucking know it. This an empire in decline. Donald Trump and his racist capitalist cronies are just a symptom of it!”

Karime Beltran, another co-lead of MeSA's ERA Committee, stated, “As a Mexican American student, it is deeply disturbing to see UIC prioritize an employer relationship over the safety, dignity, and sense of belonging of its own students. We are demanding more than statements. We are demanding action. UIC should take meaningful steps toward becoming a sanctuary campus, including cutting institutional ties with CBP and ICE and prioritizing the safety and well-being of the students who call this university home.”

The protest was organized by MeSA in response to UIC's invitation to CBP and the administration's refusal to formally rescind it. The action builds on the prior organizing work of MeSA's sanctuary campus campaign, which has demanded that UIC cut ties with immigration enforcement agencies and invest in protections for undocumented students. The ever-increasing demand for a sanctuary campus comes after a federal court struck down the Acevedo Act, Illinois DREAM Act, and Illinois RISE Act in July 2026, severely restricting educational access for undocumented students in Illinois. It also follows the abduction of two women by immigration agents on UIC's campus during Operation Midway Blitz last October.

Endorsing organizations for the September 23 rally included Students for a Democratic Society at UIC, Anakbayan at UIC, Fearless Undocumented Alliance, Jewish Student Collective at UIC, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, and Sanctuary For All.

Organizers called on people to join organizations and continue the fight for a sanctuary campus and to hold the administration accountable.

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