ACLU files lawsuit against FIU for disciplining students over silent anti-ICE protest on campus
By Sergio R. Bustos, Daniel Rivero
August 11, 2026 at 11:16 AM EDT
The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida and other legal groups announced Tuesday they have filed a lawsuit against Florida International University for disciplining seven students who took part in a silent protest on campus in March in opposition to the presence of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at the university.
“Florida’s colleges and universities are meant to be places for debate, disagreement, and discussion,” said Nicholas Warren, senior staff attorney at the ACLU of Florida. “The ICEBreakers have every right to express themselves, and FIU cannot turn its campus into a ‘protest-free zone’ through student conduct rules. We’ll see FIU in court.”
FIU has also demanded the students make videos about the school’s ban on so-called “expressive conduct” that takes place indoors, the infraction the students are being charged with.
Joining the ACLU of Florida: the Community Justice Project, Reid Levin PLLC, and Slater Legal PLLC.
READ MORE: FIU moves to discipline 7 students for 'indoor' silent protest on immigration policies
The students in question — the ICEBreakers — participated in a silent protest March 13 against the school’s voluntary collaboration with federal immigration enforcement on campus. Students stood for a few minutes unveiling shirts that read “ICE OFF FIU,” and then left the room. The silent protest took place during a “fireside chat” with FIU President Jeanette Nuñez and former Major League Baseball star Alex Rodriguez.
The group intended to protest FIU’s voluntary collaboration with immigration enforcement on campus. After months of trying to meet with Nuñez to voice concerns with the policy, students said they felt they had no other outlet through which they could voice their concerns to her.
The students charged have told WLRN they feel that their freedom of speech is being trampled by the school.
Plaintiff Katya Tripathi, a sophomore computer engineering major, told WLRN it is "disappointing" that she and her friends found it necessary to file the lawsuit.
The whole affair has upended her state of mind as she gets ready to go back to school this coming semester, she said.
" I'm a little bit worried about how I'm going to be able to get to all my classes on time and pay attention to my homework and all of that with the lawsuit going on," she said. " I chose FIU because I thought it would be a place where everyone could be expressive and show their opinions without being persecuted for it."
The lawsuit was filed because the group was found "responsible" for violating school policy.
The FIU Seven, as they have come to be known, are "unified" in terms of choosing to fight the school, she said.
Tripathi said she knows that if FIU does not settle the suit or admit to wrongdoing, that a legal fight could drag on for years.
"If they don't [settle], I'm also ready to fully fight it out," she said. "We're all going to choose what's best for all of us."
Andrew Caro, a senior majoring in musical education, agrees with Tripathi.
" I am willing to stick with it for as long as it takes to ensure that our rights are protected," said Caro. "The other six students are just as determined as I am to continue this fight."
There were about 20 students who participated in the silent protest -- there is no official number -- and only seven of them had disciplinary charges filed against them. Caro said at the beginning he felt unlucky to be among that group, but the response from the community and his fellow students has been so overwhelmingly supportive that he now considers himself lucky to wage what he sees as a righteous battle against his university.
" I've been here longer than [President] Núñez has been here. That's kind of like how I see it. I don't see it as me coming to Núñez's campus, I see it as me coming to my university. This is my university," said Caro. " Our university has been very vocal about our disagreement with her, her policies, and her involvement at the university, because she's just continuing to push political agendas at our campus."
FIU students protesting the school's working arrangements with ICE are facing disciplinary charges for expressing themselves 'indoors.' (1280x800, AR: 1.6)
Caro said his overall goal remains the same as when the original protest took place on March 13: " We want ICE off FIU."
The school has acknowledged the silent protest did not disrupt the program, but moved forward with disciplining the students under a blanket policy that no “expressive conduct” can take place indoors.
Student Tripathi said it remains possible that the students might still have to record a video reflecting on their conduct, a punishment given to the students by the university. Under the terms of the punishment, the school administration can require the students to record the videos over and over again until they are satisfied with the outcome. Tripathi said they are united in how to approach the videos if it comes to that point.
" In these videos, obviously we're not going to be apologizing for anything we did," said Tripathi.
FIU spokesperson Madeline Baró previously told WLRN that its policies are in accordance with the First Amendment along with Florida law.
"FIU applies its rules prohibiting protests and demonstrations in university buildings consistently, regardless of viewpoint. This ensures that classes, research, and academic spaces can function without interference or disruption," Baró wrote in an email to WLRN. "The University allows protests and demonstrations in outdoor areas, giving people a meaningful way to share their views, just not inside university lecture halls, labs, offices, or residence halls."
ICEBreakers and the seven charged students also filed a preliminary injunction motion on Tuesday to block FIU officials from enforcing the policy against them and other ICEBreakers members as the case proceeds to trial.
“FIU is the first university in the country to volunteer to deputize campus police into ICE agents,” said Max Fondren, president of the ICEBreakers student group, in a statement. “We are all too aware of the chaos these ICE partnerships have created across communities in South Florida. It makes us feel unsafe, and we have every right to protest it. We will not be silenced or forced into compliance.”
“ICE has no place at any university, especially one that calls itself a haven for international students,” said Andrew Caro, one of the seven charged students, a first-generation college student, and the son of Mexican immigrants. “Inviting federal enforcement on campus goes against everything this university claims to represent—and instead of listening to students’ real concerns about this, they punished us.”
Read the lawsuit ICEBreakers v. Nuñez here.
“Florida’s colleges and universities are meant to be places for debate, disagreement, and discussion,” said Nicholas Warren, senior staff attorney at the ACLU of Florida. “The ICEBreakers have every right to express themselves, and FIU cannot turn its campus into a ‘protest-free zone’ through student conduct rules. We’ll see FIU in court.”
FIU has also demanded the students make videos about the school’s ban on so-called “expressive conduct” that takes place indoors, the infraction the students are being charged with.
Joining the ACLU of Florida: the Community Justice Project, Reid Levin PLLC, and Slater Legal PLLC.
READ MORE: FIU moves to discipline 7 students for 'indoor' silent protest on immigration policies
The students in question — the ICEBreakers — participated in a silent protest March 13 against the school’s voluntary collaboration with federal immigration enforcement on campus. Students stood for a few minutes unveiling shirts that read “ICE OFF FIU,” and then left the room. The silent protest took place during a “fireside chat” with FIU President Jeanette Nuñez and former Major League Baseball star Alex Rodriguez.
The group intended to protest FIU’s voluntary collaboration with immigration enforcement on campus. After months of trying to meet with Nuñez to voice concerns with the policy, students said they felt they had no other outlet through which they could voice their concerns to her.
The students charged have told WLRN they feel that their freedom of speech is being trampled by the school.
Plaintiff Katya Tripathi, a sophomore computer engineering major, told WLRN it is "disappointing" that she and her friends found it necessary to file the lawsuit.
The whole affair has upended her state of mind as she gets ready to go back to school this coming semester, she said.
" I'm a little bit worried about how I'm going to be able to get to all my classes on time and pay attention to my homework and all of that with the lawsuit going on," she said. " I chose FIU because I thought it would be a place where everyone could be expressive and show their opinions without being persecuted for it."
The lawsuit was filed because the group was found "responsible" for violating school policy.
The FIU Seven, as they have come to be known, are "unified" in terms of choosing to fight the school, she said.
Tripathi said she knows that if FIU does not settle the suit or admit to wrongdoing, that a legal fight could drag on for years.
"If they don't [settle], I'm also ready to fully fight it out," she said. "We're all going to choose what's best for all of us."
Andrew Caro, a senior majoring in musical education, agrees with Tripathi.
" I am willing to stick with it for as long as it takes to ensure that our rights are protected," said Caro. "The other six students are just as determined as I am to continue this fight."
There were about 20 students who participated in the silent protest -- there is no official number -- and only seven of them had disciplinary charges filed against them. Caro said at the beginning he felt unlucky to be among that group, but the response from the community and his fellow students has been so overwhelmingly supportive that he now considers himself lucky to wage what he sees as a righteous battle against his university.
" I've been here longer than [President] Núñez has been here. That's kind of like how I see it. I don't see it as me coming to Núñez's campus, I see it as me coming to my university. This is my university," said Caro. " Our university has been very vocal about our disagreement with her, her policies, and her involvement at the university, because she's just continuing to push political agendas at our campus."
FIU students protesting the school's working arrangements with ICE are facing disciplinary charges for expressing themselves 'indoors.' (1280x800, AR: 1.6)
Caro said his overall goal remains the same as when the original protest took place on March 13: " We want ICE off FIU."
The school has acknowledged the silent protest did not disrupt the program, but moved forward with disciplining the students under a blanket policy that no “expressive conduct” can take place indoors.
Student Tripathi said it remains possible that the students might still have to record a video reflecting on their conduct, a punishment given to the students by the university. Under the terms of the punishment, the school administration can require the students to record the videos over and over again until they are satisfied with the outcome. Tripathi said they are united in how to approach the videos if it comes to that point.
" In these videos, obviously we're not going to be apologizing for anything we did," said Tripathi.
FIU spokesperson Madeline Baró previously told WLRN that its policies are in accordance with the First Amendment along with Florida law.
"FIU applies its rules prohibiting protests and demonstrations in university buildings consistently, regardless of viewpoint. This ensures that classes, research, and academic spaces can function without interference or disruption," Baró wrote in an email to WLRN. "The University allows protests and demonstrations in outdoor areas, giving people a meaningful way to share their views, just not inside university lecture halls, labs, offices, or residence halls."
ICEBreakers and the seven charged students also filed a preliminary injunction motion on Tuesday to block FIU officials from enforcing the policy against them and other ICEBreakers members as the case proceeds to trial.
“FIU is the first university in the country to volunteer to deputize campus police into ICE agents,” said Max Fondren, president of the ICEBreakers student group, in a statement. “We are all too aware of the chaos these ICE partnerships have created across communities in South Florida. It makes us feel unsafe, and we have every right to protest it. We will not be silenced or forced into compliance.”
“ICE has no place at any university, especially one that calls itself a haven for international students,” said Andrew Caro, one of the seven charged students, a first-generation college student, and the son of Mexican immigrants. “Inviting federal enforcement on campus goes against everything this university claims to represent—and instead of listening to students’ real concerns about this, they punished us.”
Read the lawsuit ICEBreakers v. Nuñez here.