Northeastern Students, Faculty Protest School's $2.7 Million ICE Contract

BOSTON (AP) — Northeastern University students and faculty are demanding the school cancel a multimillion-dollar research contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Federal spending data shows that Northeastern has received $2.7 million from ICE over the last two years.

Northeastern says the grant isn't funding research that has anything to do with immigration enforcement. But opponents insist having any kind of contract with ICE is "irresponsible and immoral."

Twenty-four-year-old law student Meghan Thomas called the agreement "a slap in the face" to students.

Amid the national uproar over immigrant detentions, over 2,100 students, faculty and alumni have signed an open letter and petitions demanding the contract be spiked.

Johns Hopkins University, the University of Alabama-Birmingham and Vermont's state colleges also got ICE grants this year.

(© Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)