More than 90 people gathered in Turlington Plaza at noon on Wednesday to protest the deportation of Colombian UF student Felipe Zapata Velasquez and advocate for the inclusion of an immigration attorney within the scope of Student Legal Services.
Zapata Velasquez, a 27-year-old food and resource economics junior international student, was taken into U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody last week after being arrested for driving under an expired license March 28. ICE took Zapata Velasquez to Jacksonville, where deportation proceedings began, his mother, Claudia Velasquez, told NTN24.
Zapata Velasquez is now in Colombia, according to a statement his mother shared.
“At this time, Felipe is undergoing a physical and emotional recovery process, and we are prioritizing his well-being and overall health,” she wrote.
Free Felipe! ICE Off Campus, organized by the UF Young Democratic Socialists of America, began in Turlington Plaza at 12:15 p.m. and culminated in an unsuccessful attempt to deliver a petition to Tigert Hall. Students and faculty members held signs reading “support international students” and “keep ICE off campus” as the crowd chanted “Stand with Felipe.”
Aron Ali-McClory, a 22-year-old political science and anthropology senior, led the protest from Turlington to Tigert Hall. The UF YDSA co-chair spoke to the crowd about what he called an injustice on the part of both the U.S. government and UF
“[We are here] to fight back against the idea that U.S. students in the U.S. community will let this happen to one of our own,” Ali-McClory said.
In the week leading up to the protest, UF YDSA collected signatures for a petition demanding the expansion of Student Legal Services to include legal representation for immigration matters. Student Legal Services offers a variety of different services to meet the legal needs and representation of eligible UF students, but it doesn’t cover immigration services. The group intended to deliver the petition to UF administration at Tigert Hall but the doors were locked with signs prohibiting entrance to protesters.
The regulations preventing protesters from entering a campus building generally apply to students, so the UF YDSA sent community and faculty members, Ali-McMclory said. “UF administration and police still denied them that opportunity to have student body voices heard,” he added.
“The truth is that this kind of arrest and detention can happen to any number of people that we know,” Ali-McClory said. “It is imperative that we show up for each other.”
Steven Sykes, a 19-year-old philosophy, political science and economy sophomore, has been part of UF YDSA for two years and organized the protest. He said UF failed Zapata Velasquez by not providing immigration legal services before the student was ever arrested at a traffic stop.
“We're seeing the consequences of their inaction, and we have to fight back,” Sykes said. “The university, somewhere along the line, failed to protect him”
The UF International Center offers international student advisers and urges students to seek advice to avoid potential visa status issues. While it provides an emergency line for students on F-1 or J-1 visas, it does not offer direct access to immigration attorneys.
Gemma Egan, a 21-year-old UF history senior, had never participated in an on-campus protest before. But when she walked out of her midday lecture in Turlington Hall, she was compelled to join the protesters in their cause, she said.
“I had no idea about this,” she said. “But I agree with their statement, and I agree with what they're saying, and I agree that ICE is ruining our country.”
Students and UF should be protecting their own instead of protecting the government, she said.
Rafael Solorzano, a UF professor in the Center for Latin American and Caribbean studies, learned about Zapata Velasquez’ situation through his students.
“I know that they are feeling nervous,” Solorzano said. “I'm here to support them, and also to make sure that they're safe.”
Zapata Velasquez represents international students across the U.S., Solorzano said. If this can happen to him, he added, it can happen to anyone.
“We're seeing international students who have come to UF to get their education, but are scared to just share their opinion, not just here in a rally, but in the classroom,” Solorzano said.
U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL) condemned Zapata Velasquez’s detention in a written statement shared this week, and said Trump and ICE were “running a government-funded kidnapping program.”
“Felipe Zapata Velasquez is just the latest victim of Trump’s disgusting campaign against immigrants,” Frost, who is also a member of the House Oversight Committee, said.
Protesters were not allowed inside Tigert Hall because of a regulation prohibiting protest inside campus buildings, UF spokesperson Cynthia Roldan said in a written statement.
Roldan is not at liberty to disclose further details about UF and Zapata Velasquez under FERPA protections.
Contact Vera Lucia Pappaterra at vpappaterra@alligator.org. Follow her on X @veralupap.
Vera Lucia Pappaterra is the enterprise race and equity reporter and a second-year journalism major. She has previously worked on the university desk as the university general assignment reporter. In her free time, she enjoys deadlifting 155 lbs. and telling everyone about it.
