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Tensions over immigration raids in South Florida continue to rise, now also provoking fear and solidarity among Latino communities.
This Thursday, residents and activists from Lake Worth Beach, a city with a strong presence of immigrants from the Caribbean and Central America, took to the streets to denounce what they describe as "kidnappings" and arbitrary detentions by ICE and the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP).
The demonstration was organized by the Guatemalan-Maya Center, which accused authorities of arresting workers in plain view as part of the operations deployed since the beginning of the week in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach.
Posters with phrases like "ICE kidnapped a member of the community here" were hung in front of the City Hall and on several avenues. "We want people to know that this is happening here, that our neighbors and coworkers are being taken away," said Mariana Blanco, the operations director of the center, to CBS.
According to the organization, the raids impact workers, gardeners, roofers, and cleaning staff, many of whom are parents who have been working legally for years or are waiting to resolve their immigration status.
“Every morning we receive messages saying: ‘They are taking someone here,’” reported Mayra Domingo Cárdenas, in charge of the emergency hotline.
A local activist reported to The Palm Beach Post that a 25-year-old mother in Florida was arrested, leaving behind four minor children. "It is inhumane and unjust," she stated. Another witness claimed that several workers ran away when the agents surrounded a construction site.
The figures reinforce the alarm: deportations in Florida increased by more than 60% in the last year, with over 5,000 expulsions, one of the highest rates in the country.
The immigration attorney Mayra Joli reminded that detentions are legal if there is a deportation order, although she acknowledged their traumatic impact: “These are people who have been here for years, raising American children.”
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