UW Tacoma Disinvites Border Patrol From Career Fair, Amid Outcry

TACOMA, WA — The University of Washington's Tacoma campus has uninvited U.S. Customs & Border Protection from a planned career fair after hearing concerns from several students and staff members, school officials announced Monday. The event is scheduled to begin Wednesday morning.

According to the News Tribune, UW Tacoma notified staff of border patrol's attendance in an email last week, prompting a petition from the school's Progressive Student Union and a letter signed by five candidates for Pierce County Council.

The college's chancellor, Mark Pagano, said the school reached a decision after considering feedback from student groups and faculty members.

"In this particular instance, the upcoming presence of U.S. CBP on campus had created significant concern among a number of our students and faculty, who stated very clearly that they would feel unsafe and dissuaded from participating in the career fair," Pagano wrote. "Considering the positive and educational purpose of the career fair, we determined the best course of action was to ask CBP not to participate, and they agreed."

A CBP spokesperson told the News Tribune CBP's attendance at school career fairs was not uncommon, and said: "They are not there for law enforcement purposes."

The Spring 2020 Career Fair will continue as planned on the UW Tacoma campus, beginning at 11 a.m. Wednesday.