A Duke career fair Thursday featured recruiters from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), drawing concern from some students about the comfort and perceived safety of undocumented community members as President Donald Trump pursues his restrictive immigration policy agenda.
The OneDuke All Industry Career Fair invites dozens of private and public sector employers to network with students and share job opportunities. Though ICE’s presence on campus was for recruitment purposes, its participation in the career fair elicited criticism from some students and advocacy groups.
“I think it’s really scary for a lot of undocumented students,” senior Ana Young said. “… The goal of the University should be to protect all of its students, and ICE coming to the career fair perpetuates fear among students.”
Several student groups, including Duke’s Mi Gente, Duke Africa, Duke Students for Justice in Palestine and the Duke Muslim Students Association, supported an official statement from Duke Beyond Borders — which advocates for justice for immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers in the U.S. — opposing the University’s “disappointing decision” to host ICE.
University administration declined to respond to The Chronicle’s request for comment on ICE’s presence at the career fair. The Duke Career Center did not respond to The Chronicle’s request for comment in time for publication.
Sophomore Susannah Braswell believed that ICE’s presence could be “anxiety producing” and “uncomfortable for a lot of the student body and the Duke staff.” While she acknowledged that the intention was strictly for recruitment, she shared concern about the symbolism of ICE’s participation in the event, especially if it is “indicative of where Duke stands [on] immigration issues.”
The University has noted that it “welcomes applications from undocumented and DACA students.” During Trump’s first term in office, President Vincent Price issued a letter urging the president not to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
A 2019 poll by the Pew Research Center found that 54% of respondents viewed ICE unfavorably — the least favorable rating among the federal agencies included in the survey — with 19% of Democrat respondents and 70% of Republican respondents viewing the agency favorably.
Junior Athena Wemmert, a resident assistant in Swift Apartments, considered the impact that ICE’s presence at the career fair would have on her community.
“My gut reaction … is just to inform my residents and … everyone I care about on this campus [about] what’s going on,” she said. “… I think it’s my duty to make sure that I’m there for them in whatever way possible.”
Some students attending the career fair received pamphlets from an unnamed group detailing which “companies to avoid and reject for the well-being of our communities at Duke and beyond.” The list included ICE, the N.C. Department of Adult Correction, the N.C. Department of Public Safety’s Division of Juvenile Justice and the U.S. Navy.
To Braswell, resources informing people of their “rights” and “civil liberties” are “really important.”
“I hope that we’ll continue disseminating that kind of information and doing what we can to protect each other,” she said.
Editor’s note: Ana Young was a reporter for The Chronicle’s sports department in Volume 118.
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Kate Haver is a Trinity sophomore and a university news editor of The Chronicle's 120th volume.