<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=2zezRH_1GqQoi6m00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2zezRH_1GqQoi6m00" width="1000" height="667" ><figcaption>Chispas UF External Director Daniela Gonzales speaks to the crowd of protesters at Tigert Hall, Friday, Nov. 6, 2026, in Gainesville, Fla. Photo by Tessa Davidson | The Independent Florida Alligator</figcaption></figure>Among shouts of “intifada,” over 40 people adorned with anti-ICE banners and Palestinian flags gathered on the steps of Tigert Hall Friday afternoon to demand UF acknowledge and support a student rumored to have been arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The detained person’s name hasn’t been released, and little information about the situation is available, although the university confirmed it was not involved with the arrest because it happened off campus. Daniela Gonzales, a 24-year-old UF sustainable development first year master’s student and the external director of Chispas, led the group in chants on the steps of Tigert Hall. “The protest here is to pressure our administration into protecting international students,” she said. “UF has the largest population of international students, so it is disgraceful that they don't protect or even want to speak on what's going on with our community.”Long term, she said she wants to see UF rescind its 287(g) agreement with ICE. The agreement, which was signed in April 2025, allows the UF Police Department to contribute to immigration enforcement by allowing officers to question people on their immigration status and transfer them into ICE custody. The university was directed to sign the agreement by the DeSantis administration.“This pressure is not going to stop,” Gonzales said. “We are going to keep protesting this until the students' demands are met.”During her speech to the crowd, she said the detained student was a senior who was on their way back from a job interview in Atlanta when they were detained. The Young Democratic Socialists of America, which also attended the protest, took a similar stance. Alex Lawson, a 22-year-old UF digital arts and sciences senior and co-chair of YDSA, said the protest is part of the longer battle against 287(g) agreements. “It’s just important we all have the same goal we're working towards,” they said.They said their personal goal for the protest was to maintain the momentum of recent anti-ICE protests. Enjoy what you're reading? Get content from The Alligator delivered to your inboxStudents for Socialism had more intense demands for UF’s administration. Kai Blades, a 22-year-old second-year Ph.D. history student and co-chair of Students for Socialism, said he wants to raise as much awareness as possible about the detained student, starting with an official statement from the university acknowledging the student’s arrest. “We are trying our best to raise awareness so that we can push the administration to give them the support that they need,” he said, “so they can be freed as fast as possible, and so that they can get the financial support that they need as well.”He said he wants to see UF use its power to push for the student’s release. “This is our tuition money, and we want to choose how to use it,” he said. “We’re demanding that the administration use it to support our students.”Overall, he said, the organization wants UF to end its 287(g) agreement. Another member of Students for Socialism led the group in chants of “intifada,” a word that has a controversial connotation due to its historical use as a call for violence, although the word itself does not mean violence.Matthew Norkin, a 21-year-old UF history and economics junior, said he wasn’t surprised to see the protest as he walked down Southwest 13th Avenue, but the chants of “intifada” upset him.“These are hateful individuals that want to kill those that don’t agree with them,” he said about the protesters. “That is what ‘intifada’ means.”At the beginning of the protest, Norkin said the protesters meant well and had big hearts, a statement he retracted after hearing about the chant.“The thought that people will hold a Palestinian flag and wear Iraqi kafiyas and preach about tolerance is exceedingly hypocritical,” he said. “When I say these people are extremely misinformed, that is a prime example of it. It’s like saying ‘chickens for KFC.’”He said he also disagrees with the chants for UF to end its 287(g) agreement with ICE because UFPD has to comply to receive funding from the government.Since coming to UF, Norkin, who wears a Star of David around his neck, said he has been the target of several antisemitic remarks because he is Jewish, including being called a colonist.“I think a lot of it is sowed in hate,” he said. “That really speaks to who these people are.”Contact Alexa Ryan at aryan@alligator.org. Follow her on X @AlexaRyan_.Support your local paperThe Independent Florida Alligator has been independent of the university since 1971, your donation today could help #SaveStudentNewsrooms. Please consider giving today. Alexa RyanAlexa is a junior journalism and international studies student and The Alligator's Fall 2026 Enterprise editor. She previously served as the criminal justice reporter and the Enterprise politics reporter. In her free time, she enjoys running, traveling and going on random side quests. </div></body>

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Among shouts of “intifada,” over 40 people adorned with anti-ICE banners and Palestinian flags gathered on the steps of Tigert Hall Friday afternoon to demand UF acknowledge and support a student rumored to have been arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The detained person’s name hasn’t been released,...

Protesters demand UF rescind 287(g) agreement, again

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Among shouts of “intifada,” over 40 people adorned with anti-ICE banners and Palestinian flags gathered on the steps of Tigert Hall Friday afternoon to dem

Protesters demand UF rescind 287(g) agreement, again

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