The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has backed out of participating in the law school's Government and Public Interest Table Talks event scheduled for Jan. 22, an ASU spokesperson confirmed.
The news of ICE's intent to table had sparked plans for a protest during the event and a petition, which received over 650 signatures.
In an email sent to law students and forwarded to The State Press on Jan. 21, Dean Stacy Leeds of the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law said the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's ICE Office of the Principal Legal Advisor had notified ASU Law that they would not attend the event.
Leeds emphasized that ASU Law does not select or endorse employers for their career events and only ensures that students can access opportunities to engage with those employers. She said federal laws prevent the University from discriminating against government, law enforcement or military agencies.
"Employers independently decide whether to participate in any given event, just as students decide which employers they wish to engage with," Leeds said. "Our goal remains to ensure that all JD students have access to information and opportunities that allow them to make informed, individual decisions about their career paths, while maintaining compliance with applicable laws and supporting a wide range of professional interests."
This event is hosted annually by the law school and provides law students with an opportunity to meet with future employers. When members of the law community heard of ICE's planned presence at the event, they wrote a letter voicing concern and started a petition calling for their removal.
The petition was created by the National Lawyers Guild after it was informed by a student who noticed that ICE was on the list for the event. The student had previously reached out to career services, inquiring as to why ICE would be invited, but was met with a response that "didn't have much substantive value," according to NLG officer and law student Koby Preston.
Other law students and members of NLG felt the same.
"It was classic just PR, like, 'they've been here before, they have a right to be here,'" Jaylon Romine, an NLG officer and law student, said on the University's response to student push back. "But it's just very disheartening that they're going to be here in the first place."
Preston also said their presence overall was unnecessary for the event.
"We know students who've worked for ICE in the past or the Department of Homeland Security in general. If they want to go work for ICE or DHS, they can do so without having to visit a tabling event," Preston said. "There's no reason to invite them into the walls of our campus, which is supposed to be a safe space for diversity and inclusion, as per ASU Charter."
From there, NLG began organizing a larger movement by connecting with programs outside of the law school and beyond campus to alumni and political organizing groups in the Phoenix area.
"We are not in the pursuit of putting out statements. We take action," Preston said. "So we stepped in and did our role."
Romine said the responses to the petition have created "a strong sense of solidarity" in the community.
In addition to student signatures, the petition gathered support from the Native American Law Student Association and the Chicano/Latino Law Students Association.
The petition also gained traction on social media, where it was posted by organizations including Students for Justice in Palestine at ASU, Planned Parenthood Generation Action at ASU and the Young Democratic Socialists of America at ASU.
An Instagram post by United Campus Workers Arizona and the organization's ASU chapter called on community members to protest ICE's attendance on the sidewalk outside of the law school during the event. The organizations have since announced they will no longer gather.
"A lot of us are not OK with this," Romine said. "It's just like a blatant smack in the face to international students and Hispanic community members. Allowing (ICE) to be here normalizes their presence, which I don't think anyone who signed the petition is OK with."
Carsten Oyer contributed to this story.
Edited by Henry Smardo, Senna James, Emilio Alvarado, Sophia Braccio and Ellis Preston.
Reach the reporter at msweador@asu.edu and follow @miasweador on X.
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