This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters.
By Mikhail Zinshteyn, CalMatters
Cal Poly Pomona postponed its annual fall job fair [last month] after students, alumni and community members criticized its inclusion of Customs and Border Protection as an in-person recruiter, underscoring the heightened sensitivity about immigration agencies on college campuses this fall.
The interim president of the Los Angeles County campus with nearly 28,000 students — the majority of whom are Latino — said leadership responded to the criticism and decided to rethink their approach to job fairs.
“We have listened carefully and are leveraging this input to design career programming this fall that is more personal and better tailored to the evolving needs of our students and to workforce demands,” said Iris S. Levine in a public letter Monday. “I want to thank those of you who reached out and shared your perspectives with honesty and passion,” she added.
Tracee Passeggi, the career center director at Cal Poly Pomona, said she received 200 to 250 emails between late Thursday and Monday protesting the presence of immigration law enforcement at the job fair.
In the days leading up to the postponement, social media swirled with rumors that Immigration and Customs Enforcement would be among the employers at the September job fair, something the campus said is not true in a Tuesday FAQ.
“FYI @calpolypomona invited ICE to come and recruit at a job fair on September 18th from 10:30am-2:30pm. Even when calling themselves a HSI (Hispanic serving institution). Stand up against the racial profiling and ICE bounty hunters. Contact: Career@cpp.edu, President@cpp.edu, Admin_affairs@cpp.edu,” read one message from a poster on the campus’s main Facebook page on Sunday.
More than 106,000 employers share job updates on the Cal Poly Pomona career portal called Handshake, a common software tool among college campuses. Both Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection are in the system and receive updates about campus career events. But ICE has never taken part in a career fair, the FAQ said.
Meanwhile, Customs and Border Protection, the multi-pronged agency that oversees Border Patrol, a law enforcement agency that’s conducted immigration raids in California, was among the roughly 200 employers registered for the career fair slated Sept. 18-19 and has participated in almost every job fair at the campus since 2017.
Billy Gallagher, the faculty union senior field representative at Cal Poly Pomona, said the hyper-vigilance about immigration law enforcement on the campus makes sense, especially given that judges have faulted the agencies for using racial criteria in their arrests in the Los Angeles area. The federal government under the current Trump administration has appealed a preliminary injunction from a district judge to the U.S. Supreme Court.
“There’ve been arrests, U.S. citizens swept up. At this point, it’s hard to tell even who’s who in some of these raids, so there was definitely concern among faculty for sure,” Gallagher said, adding that officers at both Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement have led immigration raids in California. Most of the students on campus are Latino, he also noted.
Career fair postponed, not cancelled
The campus doesn’t have a new date for the career fair, said Passeggi of the career center, but she aims to finalize those plans by late September, she said in an interview.
The postponed career fair was technically two events on consecutive days, and Customs and Border Protection was scheduled to appear on just one of those days with some 80 other employers.
Still, both dates were postponed. Passeggi said her team will use the opportunity to organize the fairs in new ways. What that means, she doesn’t know yet, but she pointed to the job fairs for the school’s hospitality and education majors that are smaller and subject-specific. Each event includes 200 students and 35 employers. The postponed event usually draws more than 1,500 students. It’s also outside and exposed to the elements on hot or, in the spring, possibly rainy days. She’s unsure if the redesigned fairs will be virtual or in-person.
“We have received some feedback from students saying that they were disappointed that the career fair was canceled,” she said, noting that her office was battling two types of misinformation: that the fair was called off and that Immigration and Customs Enforcement was among the employers. Neither is true.
The Career Center will still support students seeking to connect with employers and organize internships, she said.
With much of the email and social media blowback occurring over the weekend, she thinks the campus leadership rallied fast. “We moved as quickly as we could” in a transparent manner, she said, pointing to the FAQ and letter from the president.
Nonetheless, “I can definitely hear where our community is coming from,” she said.
Faculty, student perspectives
The campus’ response to the outcry was sensible, said Mario Guerrero, a professor at Cal Poly Pomona who is chair of the university’s Political Science Department. “I think it speaks volumes about (Levine’s) leadership and being able to hear what folks were saying, but also respond appropriately. It’s a super delicate situation for fairly obvious reasons,” he said. “Even reading the comments now, people are still unhappy, and that’s always going to be part of it, but at least you know you can point to leadership being able to make proactive moves to protect the students however they can.”
Guerrero also thinks that the worry over immigration law enforcement as an employer at a job fair tapped into wider fears about those federal agents entering campus and arresting students, faculty or staff.
On Instagram, a student group that’s a subsidiary of the faculty union and that has chapters across multiple Cal State campuses, criticized Cal Poly Pomona for writing that it cannot bar employers from participating in its job fair because it is a public university. “Disappointed once again in administration, ignoring the safety and needs of their campus population — while claiming their hands are tied,” read the text on an Instagram Story posted earlier this week.
The campus administration was “getting pretty pummeled by students,” Gallagher said, and he’s “certainly hoping that the (Cal Poly Pomona) administration continues to listen to students.”
Campus staff limited if federal immigration officers enter campus
The California Faculty Association, the systemwide faculty union, published in January a list of demands to California State University leadership that seeks to block federal agents from conducting immigration law enforcement on campus. The demands, updated in July, included blocking those agencies from participating in job fairs.
But as a public system, Cal State University campuses cannot limit who enters their sites. Cal Poly Pomona administrators said as much in a February email to staff: “CSU is a public university, and a large portion of CSU property is open to the general public. The areas on campus that are open to the general public, like the campus quad and walkways, are also open to federal immigration enforcement officers.”
The notice said that immigration officers cannot enter areas that aren’t open to the general public, such as classrooms that are in session and residence halls — “unless the officer presents a valid judicial warrant or declares that exigent circumstances exist.”
However, the guidance says that staff and faculty do not need to divulge any information. The campus appointed an administrator to deal with immigration law enforcement. The guidance says personnel should “respectfully inform the officer that you lack authority but will immediately contact” the designated administrator. If that person isn’t available, personnel should contact campus police or campus legal counsel.
The University of California has similar guidance and stresses that hiding evidence or individuals violates federal law. So does interfering with an arrest. “Further, you should not put yourself in physical danger,” UC’s guidance says.
Cal State University spokesperson Amy Bentley-Smith didn’t answer CalMatters’ questions about whether other campuses invited immigration law enforcement agencies to job fairs. But in an email, she wrote that campuses should try to “mitigate” community concerns about those agencies appearing on site. “That can include informing key stakeholders, like Dream Center coordinators, of the dates and times when” immigration law enforcement are on campus, she wrote.
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Ahh, yes. Dems/libs scream and holler for “free speech,” as long as what it is that they want to say. Anyone opposing their views, break out the protest undies.
you don’t understand what free speech is. Read up on the constitution ya commie.
Look at your president threatening people left and right (and using public agencies as a weapon of harassment) because they don’t agree with him or they criticize him. MAGAts are the feelings police and the book banners.
LOL, now identify where the 1st amendment is at issue here. Fake patriots never know the law of the land. Also FUK ICE
DOULS – I know simple concepts are hard to understand, but free speech is not hindered in any way by people protesting about something.
Federal authorities and everyone else has a right to access the campus. If you aren’t interested in a job with ICE, just keep on walking right by their table. Hell, fly them the bird of you’re so pissed off and that makes you feel better. That’s a right. They’ll just ignore it, just like when the police get the same crappy moves from anti-LE types who are often drunk. They won’t start any conflicts with students. They’re used to it, because unfortunately there are a number of clueless, disrespectful individuals out there, and they’re always the loudest, most obnoxious, and immature.
Fortunately most American citizens support laws and those who enforce them.
Trump does not support law enforcement. Don the Con has defunded the FBI, the CIA, the DEA, the ATF, the cyber security and infrastructure agency, the DOJ. and the Community Oriented Policing Services program. MAGA and most of the GOP didn’t care about law enforcement on Jan 6. These MAGA and GOP folks only care about law enforcement when these agencies either protect their fragile feelings, or use their powers against minorities.
GT – BASIC hates law enforcement. That’s why he voted for someone who loves it when they’re violently beaten and injured, even killed, by his followers.
And now they are campaigning for a 3rd term gleefully.
BASIC – “Fortunately most American citizens support laws and those who enforce them.”
Yup, unlike you and the rest of the MAGA bums.
It’s interesting that progressives want to shut down anything and everything that they do not agree with. So what if ICE is legally recruiting at an on-campus job fair. Not interested in working for ICE? Walk on by. Unbelievable that folks think it’s okay to simply ban recruiting efforts of those with whom they disagree. Then the progressive thinking extends to banning companies such as SpaceX, Chick-fil-A, Tesla, and so on. Interesting how those who think they are doing the right thing are doing quite the opposite. Very strange.
Ok now do the GOP. They are the ultimate cancel culture vultures.
“It’s interesting that progressives want to shut down anything and everything that they do not agree with” Oh you mean like Jan 6. Or do you mean like Mom’s for Liberty?
Anon: For sure the GOP cancels things all the time, but has nothing to do with the article or my comment (“What about them?!?!?”). For argument’s sake, let’s say you like to spend much of your life surfing in Santa Barbara, but you want to surf at a highly localized spot in San Diego, Santa Cruz, Oregon Coast, or wherever. You paddle out and are blocked from taking off simply because you’re from Santa Barbara. Not cool at all, but that’s how it works. Put yourself in the shoes of others as we can all try to do better and get along. BTW, was recently at Noosa and Byron Bay and it was pancakes.
“For sure the GOP cancels things all the time, but has nothing to do with the article or my comment” YOUR COMMENT LITERALLY SAID “It’s interesting that progressives want to shut down anything and everything that they do not agree with” So yes, Anon’s comment has everything to do with your comment.
“It’s interesting that progressives want to shut down anything and everything that they do not agree with.” Or do you mean examples like cancelling certain NFL players, boycotting Goodyear, boycotting Bud Light, targeting media commentators on CNN, NBC, MSNBC, calling for a boycott of Apple products, termination of federal watchdogs, purging career officials, dismissing DOJ officials, cancelling funding for universities, or cancelling funding for NPR and PBS?
BEES – “Not interested in working for” a group that illegally racially profiles and terrorizes innocent tax paying parents who contribute to our economy and have less felonies than our President, over 80% of which have NO FELONIES AT ALL, much less any criminal records? “Walk on by.”
You would have been fun in 1930s Germany.
And BEES… no one is calling for “banning” those companies.
You ready to stop lying yet?
Trying to stay on topic here. Most people want ICE simply to do their job. In order to do their job they need to recruit via many avenues. If it means showing up at a campus job fair, that’s what they will do….just like all of the other companies/organizations who were planning to show up. I don’t see how canceling the job fair was of benefit to anyone. Shutting down the job fair was only a “win” for a small activist group who could care less about the students who were prevented from being potentially recruited by non-ICE entities.
Bees. Read the article. The event was not cancelled. Postponed. ICE wasn’t coming and has never been to the event. It was customs and border patrol which is a different agency. Id think if one wishes to stay on topic that they would grasp the article.
“ICE has never taken part in a career fair, the FAQ said.”
BK with another feeble-minded ramble largely disconnected from the issue being discussed.
They are not doing the job they’re supposed to be doing. They are SS and if you cannot see that then don’t expect any help when you’re turn comes.