On the morning of May 27, St. John’s University faculty and staff went to Newman Hall to personally deliver a petition with 841 signatures calling for the end of the University’s partnership with the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP). On May 6, St. John’s announced their collaboration with the New York Field Office of the CBP to create an Institute for Border Security and Intelligence Studies in the Collins College of Professional Studies. 

Petitioners say the deal was made quietly without University or community input. While they acknowledge the importance of research that could come from this partnership, they feel it comes at the cost of the University’s core values. 

“We recognize the importance of research and education in fields related to national security. However, this partnership with CBP presents grave ethical, legal, and cultural concerns,” the petition read. 

These sentiments are present as a result of the suspension of the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, mass deportations and faculty and students being detained from college campuses and denied due process across the country. 

Petitioners say this violates the University’s Catholic, Vincentian mission to provide aid and to serve those in need. 

The petition claims that the partnership with CBP is a threat to safety within the University, the surrounding community of Jamaica and the greater New York metro area. It cites the CBP’s routine violation of human and constitutional rights and the nine 2025 deaths of ICE detainees as reasons for the immediate termination of this union. 

Petition signers make note of New Yorkers’ increased vulnerability by calling attention to the CBP’s ability to conduct warrantless searches and seizures within New York City. 

Petitioners’ main concerns with this agreement include: the undermining of University values, threats to privacy, civil liberties and academic freedom, risks to our broader community and lack of community involvement and transparency. 

In addition to the termination of this partnership the petition calls for increased transparency, more privacy, the formation of an independent oversight committee and the affirmation that no individual will be penalized by the University for political expression. 

Petitioners aimed to remind the St. John’s University Board of Trustees and Senior Management Group just how closely this agreement impacts the people of this community. 

“Refugees and migrants are our colleagues, classmates, neighbors, friends and family members. THEY are US,” the petition exclaimed. 

In response to inquires from The Torch, University spokesperson Brian Browne stated “this MOU is no different than countless others that St. John’s pursues with public, private, and non-profit organizations.”

To read the petition click here.