Flagler College Students Demand Sanctuary Campus

By Nancy Huang

Flagler College’s Student Democratic Society (SDS) has collected over 500 signatures on a petition urging the school to declare itself a sanctuary campus, prohibiting the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from recruiting or operating on campus, and cutting ties with local immigration enforcement.

The petition calls for formal protections for immigrant students and a stop to DHS agency recruitment such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), as well as aiming to sever partnerships with 287(g) programs, like the one run by the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office.

The student organization launched the petition in the Fall 2025 after discovering federal recruitment plans through campus job postings, causing a rise in campus protests and increasing national enforcement concerns. These include ICE’s record 35 custody deaths in 2025, early 2026 fatalities such as the shooting of Renee Nicole Good and ICE detention holding 68,000 people as of mid-February, a 70% surge from last year.

On Jan. 29, it was announced that a planned CBP recruitment event, originally scheduled for Feb. 6, would be canceled due to “public pressures.” But when the day came, students and faculty still gathered outside the student center to hold a candlelight vigil honoring nine victims of immigration brutality, primarily ICE custody deaths, and to rally support for the sanctuary campus effort.

During the vigil, Logan Johnson, president of the SDS chapter at Flagler College, cleared up the fact that it was not Flagler College that canceled the event- it was CBP recruitment that rescheduled. She called the college’s inaction disappointing and urged students to keep fighting for their community.

“We have the power to defend our international students. We have the power to defend our constitutional rights. We have the power to make Flagler College a sanctuary campus,” Johnson said. “Change can’t wait. No one else is going to save us, and change will not happen easily. It will happen from struggle.”

According to Florida Shines, Flagler College enrolled over 300 Hispanic students last year- 15% of undergrads- and dozens of students from more than 50 countries- 12% of undergraduates. Johnson’s call reflects the reality faced by Flagler’s immigrant students, who pay full tuition yet continue to fear enforcement from St. Johns County’s broad 287(g) program, one of the state’s largest.

West Ambrose, Engagement Leader of the student organization, followed with encouragement for protesters.

“A lot of people think that what they have to say doesn’t matter,” Ambrose said. “Every single social change has arisen from community organization and activism. It has never been the government. It has always been us.”

Yet Ambrose’s words push back against a common critique from older generations, who often dismiss campus activism as naive or counterproductive. Polls show over 60% of Americans over 65 view student protests unfavorably, often favoring dialogue over confrontation.

Another concern is that one of President Trump’s January 2025 executive orders stated that “sanctuary jurisdictions” should not receive federal funding, putting colleges in a bind between student activism and financial risks. As a private college, Flagler faces less direct financial risk from President Trump’s executive order withholding federal funds from “sanctuary jurisdictions,” which mainly targets public institutions, though the broader political climate still weighs heavily.

Yet, for many SDS organizers, the tension reinforces why the fight matters. They said Flagler students reject DHS actions regardless of agency and insist Flagler won’t enact sanctuary protections without sustained public pressure. In these times of fear and division, they are choosing love and persistence until everyone on campus can learn and live without fear.

“All of the rage that you feel, and all of that, like, hatred and darkness, all of that, the anguish that brought you out here. Really, what that is, is an extension of your love and your passion and your empathy,” said Zach Reeder, the treasurer of the student organization.

“Resistance is love, so don’t ever let horrific things that we’re seeing every day, and whatever the next atrocity is, don’t let it rob you of your hope, and keep living in love,” he said.