The University of Minnesota’s Career Services website advertised a virtual event for Sept. 3 hosted by the U.S. Border Patrol, which sparked outrage among the University community.

The webinar, which aimed to recruit members of the public for roles in Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Patrol, had faculty calling student safety into question as a result of the departments’ potential campus presence. 

The webinar offered a variety of benefits to potential applicants, including recruitment incentives totaling up to $30,000. 

While the University itself did not host this webinar and credited third-party career services platform Handshake, the Career Services website broadcasted the event listing to University community members.

Amelia Montes, department chair of Chicano and Latino studies, said the post left her feeling nauseated. Before the listing was taken down, Montes urged the University to cut any ties with CBP and ICE in an email to President Rebecca Cunnningham and Provost Gretchen Ritter, among other administrators.

“Such a recruitment (inviting our own students to become Border Patrol Agents) is directly connected to the parallel increase in deportations and vagrant human rights abuses,” Montes wrote in the email.

The webinar aired just months after ICE’s detainment of graduate student Doğukan Gunaydin, which sparked outrage on campus. 

Michael Gallope, professor and chair of cultural studies and comparative literature, said that the University’s mixed messages directly exclude a large group of students.

“It seems impossible to uphold the values of a safe and welcoming environment for international students and students of first-generation migrants while also recruiting students to serve as border patrol agents,” Gallope said.

This is not the first time the University has faced controversy for promoting government recruitment, according to Gallope.

Gallope said this offering reminded him of another recruitment promotion in the ‘80s, which resulted in a large-scale protest.

In 1986, University students attempted to occupy Fraser Hall in opposition to CIA recruitment on campus. This protest was one of a handful of occupations requiring a major police presence, according to the CLA Assembly Report on UMN Student Building Occupations.

During the webinar, one attendee protested the live webinar after being called upon to ask recruitment questions.

“You all should be ashamed of yourselves,” the attendee said. “What you are doing at the border is terrible.”

Rachel Carlson, a program manager for the Department of Homeland Security and one of the webinar organizers, quickly cut off the protester by muting their microphone.

“Please respect the people who work in the government,” Carlson said.

Comments in the webinar chat flowed in following the protestor’s remarks.

“Great job getting him out of here!!!” an attendee said. Another said, “Thank you for muting the libtard!”

The University’s Career Services functions to help students and alumni find employment opportunities, according to their website.

“While the University does not endorse any participating organizations, it is committed to offering a range of career opportunities for students and alumni to consider,” the University said in a statement.

During the webinar, Carlson outlined the hiring process and requirements for attendees interested in CBP positions. They recommended attendees over the age of 40 to consider ICE employment to avoid CBP’s age limit.

CBP and ICE both fall under the DHS, which has begun widespread crackdowns on immigration and illegal entry into the U.S. in recent months.

Webinar speaker Jeff Vining, a CBP agent and recruiter, told attendees that border patrol agents’ efforts aim to protect the U.S. by making sure “people use that front door”.

Some members of the faculty feel that clear-communicated support for immigrant and undocumented students from higher administration has been unreliable and shoddy. Race, Indigeneity, Disability, Gender and Sexuality Studies Director Jimmy Patiño said the University’s compliance is contradictory.

“An action like this reveals that on the one hand, you’re sharing resources and rhetoric that you support immigrant students,” Patiño said. “On the other hand, you’re basically inviting ICE on campus to discuss through career services.”

Patiño said when University leaders refuse to verbally protect undocumented and immigrant students, academic departments are left to pick up the administration’s slack.

Patiño said his department spearheaded the majority of ICE protocol procedures in communications with University legal services, where Patiño said he saw little support from administrators. He said the University’s response to the work done was often limited to little more than sharing available student resources.

“We do not get explicit support from the higher echelons of the University leadership,” Patiño said. “In the spring, we had to detail to our faculty in RIDGS on what the procedures would be if ICE were on campus.”

Montes said the webinar was a part of a bigger picture of tearing families apart.

“I am ashamed and shocked that this is happening in our name,” Montes said. “What this is doing is, this program is helping individuals ruin people’s lives.”

Clarification: U.S. Customs and Border Protection recommends people over 40 to join ICE in order to avoid CBP’s age limit. 

Correction: A previous version said the webinar webpage was deleted prior to the event. The webpage was deleted after the event happened, which is typical for UMN Career Services to do.