Representatives from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office of the Principal Legal Advisor opted to withdraw from a Jan. 23 Georgetown University Law Center virtual career fair following student outcry.
The agency’s withdrawal comes after over 1,100 students, faculty and community members signed a petition calling on the Law Center to exclude U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and ICE departments from its Public Sector Recruitment Program (PSRP), a virtual public service-focused career fair connecting employers from over 250 organizations with students. The Law Center confirmed Jan. 22 that it would not remove ICE’s Office of the Principal Legal Advisor, DHS’s largest legal branch, and ICE’s Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center, which prosecutes and deports human rights violators, from the fair.
A Law Center spokesperson confirmed to The Hoya on Jan. 23 that ICE’s Office of the Principal Legal Advisor withdrew from the fair, while ICE’s Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center is still participating. Both departments fall under the Department of Homeland Security.
Belle Allmendinger (LAW ’27), who helped write the petition, said they are grateful the department withdrew amid growing student and community concerns for ICE.
“Although we would have loved for it to have been because of the school, I am glad that ICE did not feel welcome and that they saw that the student body and other organizations participating in the program didn’t want to be anywhere near them and didn’t want to be in even the same virtual program,” Allmendinger told The Hoya.
The Law Center previously declined to remove ICE and DHS from the PSRP, citing the importance of catering to a “diverse community with different career aspirations.”
Allmendinger said students celebrated the outcome but will continue to pressure the Law Center to exclude ICE and DHS from future events.
“This isn’t the end,” Allmendinger said. “ICE pulled out, but the school didn’t do anything. We’re still going to push the school to rethink their policy and to rethink their stance.”
“We’ll take the weekend and then we’re going to get back to work,” Allmendinger added.
