09/06/2026
We need younger people to get involved
BREAKING: Students Silently Stood Up in Protest Shirts, FIU Tried to Punish Them, and a Federal Judge Just Shut It Down
Seven college students stood up. They didn't shout. They didn't chant. They just showed t-shirts that said "ICE OFF FIU" and sat back down. Their university tried to discipline them anyway.
The silent protest happened in March during a campus "fireside chat" featuring FIU's president and former MLB star Alex Rodriguez. It lasted a few minutes. The event never stopped. Even the university's own staff email admitted it: the protest "did not disrupt the event, and the speakers were able to continue their discussion."
None of that stopped FIU from pursuing disciplinary charges three months later. The students, all part of a group called ICEBreakers protesting the school's controversial agreement with ICE, were found "responsible" for violating a policy against "expressive activities" indoors, then ordered to record personal apology-style reflection videos, which the school could force them to redo until satisfied.
One of the seven, Andrew Caro, wasn't having it. "I have no intention of apologizing," he told WLRN. "I did not engage in anything that was wrong."
So they sued, and it worked. At the first federal hearing, Judge Jacqueline Becerra grilled FIU's own attorney until he couldn't answer basic questions about the policy. Asked if students simply standing up and walking out together could also get them punished, the attorney stammered, "Perhaps, your honor." Becerra wasn't letting that slide. "That's exactly the problem. You hesitate... Do you think these 18- and 19-year-olds can figure out this policy?"
Three days later, she blocked FIU from enforcing the policy against these students at all, writing that the school's justification went "down a road not taken in any school speech case either by the Supreme Court or the Eleventh Circuit."
"It was just such a moment of celebration for all of us," Caro said.
They're not stopping. More shirts have already gone out. More protests are already planned. A university tried to make an example out of seven students for wearing a t-shirt. It backfired completely.
