Immigrant advocates and others say President Donald Trump's aggressive deportation policies are fostering a climate of "fear" in South Florida's immigrant communities, mainly with his decision to abruptly end temporary visas for hundreds of thousands of legal U.S. residents.
At a press conference late Friday afternoon in Miami, the advocates, including elected officials and community leaders, were also critical of the partnership between local law enforcement authorities and U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement agents to round up suspected undocumented immigrants. They also denounced the president's travel ban on visitors from Haiti and visa restrictions on those traveling from Cuba and Venezuela.
The Family Action Network Movement (FANM), a longstanding and influential advocate for South Florida immigrants, organized the press conference that included North Miami Mayor Alix Desulme, North Miami Beach Mayor Michael Joseph and Miami-Dade County Commissioner Marleine Bastien
"We need more than Temporary Protective Status," said Bastien, referring to TPS.
The Trump administration has announced ending TPS for hundreds of thousands of Haitians and Venezuelan immigrants before the end of the year.
TPS allows people already in the United States to live and work legally because their native countries are deemed unsafe for return due to natural disaster or civil strife.
Bastien, a long-time advocate for immigrant rights, said ending TPS is unfair.
"From one minute to the next, they became undocumented," Bastien said.
Bastien said she was dressed in black at the press conference "to mourn the end of compassion."
"We are calling today on Congress and this administration to stop playing politics with people's lives and pass comprehensive immigration reform," she said.
The Supreme Court has given the green light for the Trump administration to strip TPS from an estimated 350,000 Venezuelans that would have expired in April. In doing so, the court put on hold a court order blocking the administration from revoking protections granted under the former Biden administration. An additional 250,000 Venezuelans covered by an earlier TPS designation, are set to lose those protections in September.
The Trump administration has announced that in early August it would end TPS for about half a million Haitians. Their status had been renewed by the Biden administration, which had widely expanded that type of humanitarian visa. Several immigrant advocate groups have filed lawsuits attempting to block the end of TPS for Haitians. The cases are pending in federal court in various states.
Others at the press conference condemned the administration's efforts to dismantle the Biden-era humanitarian parole program, which has allowed more than 500,000 migrants from Haiti, Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua to temporarily live and work in the U.S.
South Florida is home to the nation's largest concentration of immigrants from those four countries.
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They also denounced local law enforcement partnerships with federal immigration agencies — specifically the 287(g) program, which allows local police to collaborate with ICE in detaining suspected undocumented immigrants.
Earlier this week, the City of Miami approved a 287(g) agreement in a narrow 3-2 vote, allowing Miami police officers to be trained and deputized by ICE.
The decision, pushed through by Commissioner Joe Carollo, has drawn criticism from immigrant advocates who say it could further erode trust between the community and law enforcement.
Little Haiti resident Natalia Menocal, who helps immigrants translate legal documents and other community services, warned that the partnership agreement could deepen fear in already vulnerable communities.
"With 287(g), it will become dangerous for anyone with an accent, or anyone who looks like an immigrant, to walk down the street, go to the grocery store, or take their kids to the beach without the proper paperwork," Menocal said.
She recounted her own experience in Frederick, Maryland, where she saw immigrant victims of domestic violence hesitate to call the police under the same program.
Paul Namphy, the political director for FANM, urged people to seek legal advice and push back against fear.
"We are rejecting the xenophobic rhetoric coming from both the governor's mansion in Tallahassee and the White House," Namphy said.
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