Frederick Community College Student Center sign, includes Public Safety Office directions Sep 23, 2026. (Douglas Nieto Alvarado/ The Commuter)
The recent ICE raid in Frederick has left FCC students concerned over the aggressive tactics used, and their safety.
FREDERICK MD: On Friday, Sept. 4, ICE agents raided a local home, 4.6 miles away from FCC’s Campus, to arrest a man. The event spread online like wildfire. Some FCC students feel more pressure after this local attack on the community because of their ethnicity. A few shared their views on that night.
Those who saw the events unfold on social media, shared similar opinions on ICE’s handling of their operation. They described it as unreasonable, brutal, and expressed fear for themselves and their families. Student Angeline Portillo said, “ICE used excessive force, injuring innocent people and beating them. Sometimes I’m scared that my family is not safe.”
Fellow student Emil Calderon also said, “I think that this incident shows that these Federal agents look to cause fear in our communities with that display of power, I think these actions should be able to be regulated so the people being attacked can defend their fundamental rights.”
The rise in tension in the community led students to question whether or not being on campus is safe. Classmate Santos Canales noted, “I feel a little safer because staff is doing their part, but sometimes ICE abuses their power to force themselves in.” Expressing concerns that ICE is been known to forcefully breach private facilities in search of their target, making him fear that they would conduct operations at FCC.
Campus Police Lieutenant, Summers provided the Maryland Values Act Policy, this document depicts how the College would respond to ICE if they ever arrived on campus and it is publicly available on the FCC website.
The policy prohibits operation of federal officers in Nonpublic spaces, some places considered nonpublic are, classrooms of all types, any kind of student resource office or training facility, and study spaces all over campus. All nonpublic areas are only for staff members and students.
Additionally, staff is supposed to notify campus security if an officer is on campus, security will then promptly ask the officers to stay in public areas and require valid identification and some kind of proof or warrant of the investigation being conducted. It is important to note that no one on campus is allowed to interfere even if an officer is in a nonpublic space with no justification.
Despite any concerns the policy might bring to students, Lieutenant Summers claimed, “there have not been any cases regarding ICE on campus.” He said, “and we hope to keep it that way.”
