On a day of nationwide protests against the Trump administration, over a hundred people rallied outside of the Pinellas County Jail, where immigrants suspected of being in the country illegally are being detained.
Protesters spoke out against the Trump administration's ongoing crackdown of illegal immigration and Florida's cooperation with federal agents.
The jail, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, is a designated holding facility for the Tampa region. The detainees are held at the facility before being transferred to another center or placed in custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The sheriff's office did not return WUSF's inquiry about the number of people held on ICE detainers. A spokesperson told WUSF previously that the jail's capacity is about 3,000.
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Pinellas, like all 67 Florida counties, have entered into 287(g) agreements, a partnership between local law enforcement and federal immigration agents.
Protest organizers referred to comments made by Pinellas Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, a member of the State Immigration Enforcement Council, who said overcrowding in the jail last month resulted in about 200 inmates sleeping on the floor.
The sheriff's office told the Tampa Bay Times on Friday that "jail capacity is currently stable."
Organizers with Tampa Bay's Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) said that Rosa Patishtan-Gomez, a 30-year-old mother of two, was detained recently in Tampa and taken to the jail before being transferred to the Broward County Transitional Facility.
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According to ICE's online detainee locator system, Patishtan-Gomez is now in Texas at the Karnes County Immigration Processing Center.
Ruth Beltran, a member of Tampa Bay PSL and the Tampa Bay Immigrant Solidarity Network, said Patishtan-Gomez was still nursing her 10-month old daughter. By detaining her, Beltran said, ICE was going against its policies.
A directive that has been in place since 2021 says to avoid detaining pregnant, postpartum or nursing individuals, unless their release is prohibited by law or exceptional circumstances exist.
In April, ICE detained and deported to Cuba a Tampa mother who was breastfeeding her 1-year-old daughter.
"It is inhumane and a violation of human rights for small children to be separated from their mothers," said Beltran. "Rosa is a simple, everyday working person. She is not a danger to society."
Beltran said Patishtan-Gomez came to the U.S. from Mexico five years ago and had just started a job in construction.
Community advocates also called for more transparency about who is being detained at the Pinellas Jail.
"We do not even have a real, true count of who is inside the jail, and how many people they are booking," said Beltran.
Community members from across the county stood on 49th Street, chanting, "No hate, no fear, immigrants are welcome here."
Some waved Mexican flags as cars drove past and honked in support. Others held up signs with the names of local immigrants who were detained or deported.
Brian Hombrar-Gil of Clearwater said a personal reason brought him out: Friends and family members have been swept up in recent immigration enforcement efforts.
"I'm here to represent all the people that can't come out, all the people that suffer, all the people that have been taken away from us, separated from us," Hombrar-Gil said.
Another resident, Christopher Contreras of Safety Harbor, said he was against the way immigrants were being treated under the Trump administration.
"The deportations of innocent people without due process – it's wrong. It shouldn't be happening," he said.
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In recent months, about a quarter of the people held in detention centers across the U.S. do not have criminal convictions or charges against them, according to ICE data.
Immigrants, who were at times in the process of adjusting their status, have found themselves being detained at their regular check-ins with immigration officials, according to family members and legal representatives.
To meet deportation goals, the administration has implemented a new tactic that allows for more arrests inside immigration courts, according to media reports.
