Spanish
Miami.- The Florida political organization Rising Voices Collective (RVC) and other activists requested this Friday that the mayor of Miami, Francis Suárez, veto the agreement approved this Tuesday by the City Council for the local police to cooperate with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE) in the arrest of undocumented migrants.
RVC's voter registration director, Juan Osorio, denounced that the agreement is “dangerous and unnecessary”, in statements to EFE when meeting with other activists at the Torch of Friendship, in the city of Miami. This monument, built in 1960, symbolizes a city with open doors to immigrants from Latin America and the Caribbean, on whose summit shines a permanent flame that becomes a beacon of welcome to those arriving in the United States."This is incredibly dangerous for our community," as the measure "would absolutely undermine trust" between migrants and local police, because people do not want to risk being detained, Osorio said. The activist warned that on Thursday, June 26, the Miami-Dade County Commission will vote on another agreement with ICE that would allow ICE to pay $50 to apprehend a migrant for 48 hours in a local prison, in addition to granting it "reasonable access to all detainees" and "discretion" over what information to share. Therefore, Osorio and representatives from other organizations, such as Equality Florida and Miami Democratic Socialists of America, called on the community to go to the Government Center that day to give their testimony against the agreement.The agreement, called 287(g), establishes a direct collaboration between local police and ICE to identify, detain, and facilitate the deportation of people in irregular administrative situations.
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The RVC representative added that the Democratic candidate for mayor of the city of Miami in November 2025, Ken Russell, accompanied the protesters this Tuesday during the meeting at Miami City Hall, and hopes that he will continue to give them his support on Thursday during the vote on the agreement in Miami-Dade County. This Friday coincides with World Refugee Day, in a week that activists have denounced threats to civil rights in Miami due to a measure they consider could fuel discriminatory practices in a city characterized by its diversity and migratory history, as more than half of the population was born outside the U.S.
