Worker Unions Rally to Force University of Illinois to Cut Ties with ICE-Linked Corporations

Several worker unions under the Campus Labor Coalition (CLC) gathered at the University of Illinois’ Main Quad on Wednesday to demand concrete protections for international graduate students and an end to the university’s financial dealings with companies that support Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Representatives from the Graduate Employees’ Organization (GEO), Non-Tenure Faculty Coalition (NTFC), and Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 73 spoke out against what they called the university’s complicity in ICE’s inhumane practices. Attendees were encouraged to sign a petition demanding stronger campus safeguards against ICE presence, including visible signage barring ICE from non-public spaces and campus alerts to notify the community of ICE activity.

Ricky Baldwin, assistant director of SEIU Local 73’s downstate division, named several corporations profiting from ICE operations that maintain contracts or partnerships with the university or the NCAA. “GlobalX Airlines, Hilton Hotels, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Flock Safety — all these corporations are making this possible and profiting from this inhumanity,” Baldwin said.

GlobalX Airlines operates most ICE deportation flights, and the Graduate Employees’ Organization alleges that the university has used GlobalX charter flights for its athletic teams. Investigations by The Athletic have revealed that many NCAA teams have flown on GlobalX planes, sometimes the very same ones used for deportations. While the university denies any direct contract with GlobalX, stating that its athletics department contracts with a travel agency that may subcontract flights to GlobalX, the connection remains troubling to activists.

Hilton Hotels came under fire recently for severing ties with a franchise that refused to host ICE agents. The university offers discounted rates at Hilton properties through its travel program. Enterprise Rent-A-Car, another company criticized by organizers, provides discounted rentals for university employees but has faced protests over alleged car rentals to ICE agents. Flock Safety, which manufactures surveillance cameras used by some police departments to assist ICE, has also installed cameras in the Champaign-Urbana area.

GEO co-chair Emma Walters highlighted the university’s dependence on immigrant labor and called for greater protections. “The university’s success relies on a diverse network of workers, many immigrants or non-citizens, yet it lacks sufficient concern for their safety and rights,” Walters said.

Lecturer Dani Nyikos echoed these concerns, emphasizing the university’s failure to stand up for democracy and protect its community members from ICE’s reach.

Currently, GEO is negotiating a new contract with university administrators, seeking wage increases, fee waivers, and protections for international workers. However, GEO member Xenia Osterhout clarified that the union cannot negotiate the university’s business relationships through the contract. That is why the petition and public pressure campaign are critical tools to influence university policies beyond labor agreements.

Once the petition reaches a few thousand signatures, GEO plans to hold another rally to formally present their demands to Chancellor Charles Lee Isbell Jr.

This push by university workers highlights a growing movement demanding institutions cut financial and operational ties with ICE and defend immigrant communities from harsh immigration enforcement tactics. The university’s current partnerships with companies linked to deportations and surveillance raise urgent questions about its commitment to protecting all members of its campus community.