Florida International University disciplined seven students with reprimands and compelled 'reflection' videos over silent anti-ICE protest

On June 29, 2026, Florida International University's Office of Student Conduct and Academic Integrity sent seven students written reprimands and ordered each to record a two-minute "reflection" video explaining the university's ban on indoor "expressive activities" and how they had violated it -- subject to rejection and re-recording if unsatisfactory, with a hold threatened on registration and financial aid if not completed before early September 2026.

The discipline followed a March 13, 2026 silent protest during a campus "fireside chat" featuring FIU President Jeanette Nuñez and former MLB player Alex Rodriguez: roughly 20 students stood, displayed "ICE OFF FIU" T-shirts for a few minutes, then left without incident. FIU's own internal review found the protest "did not disrupt the event" and that no attendee present lodged a complaint. The university nonetheless charged seven of the participating students under a policy banning indoor "expressive activities" -- a category its own written policies elsewhere describe as constitutionally protected -- holding a disciplinary hearing on June 19, 2026 before issuing the written findings ten days later. Devin Parra, FIU's Assistant Dean of Students for Student Conduct and Academic Integrity, served as hearing officer and found the students responsible; a subsequent internal appeal was denied. FIU spokesperson Madeline Baró said the university "applies its rules prohibiting protests and demonstrations in university buildings consistently, regardless of viewpoint."

Updates

2026-08-11 — ACLU of Florida sued FIU on the students' behalf [4]

The ACLU of Florida, the Community Justice Project, and two private firms filed a federal lawsuit, ICEBreakers v. Nuñez, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, naming Nuñez, the FIU Board of Trustees chair, and the three officials who investigated, heard, and reviewed the students' case as defendants. The students also moved for a preliminary injunction blocking further enforcement of the discipline while the case proceeds.

2026-08-23 — Federal judge granted a preliminary injunction, finding FIU likely violated the students' First Amendment rights [5]

U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Becerra ruled the students were likely to succeed on the merits, ordering FIU to stop enforcing its ban on indoor "expressive activities" and to pause further discipline against the students while the litigation continues. Becerra found FIU's only evidence that the protest was disruptive -- a police detective's sworn statement written after the fact and not part of the original disciplinary record -- unpersuasive.