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The senator and commissioner of Miami-Dade, René García, requested this Tuesday that the Donald Trump federal administration halt the deportations of immigrants with legal status, humanitarian permits, or active asylum applications.
After reporting a "worrying pattern" of arbitrary detentions and retroactive application of immigration regulations that violate due process, the Republican legislator —son of Cuban exiles and born in Hialeah— held a press conference in front of the Tower of Liberty, a symbol of the Cuban exile community.
He was accompanied by members of the Cuban-American Bar Association (CABA) and relatives of detained immigrants, whom he supported.
"I appreciate that the Trump administration is protecting our border and expelling criminals, but we must also ensure that families with clean records and asylum seekers under legal protection are not detained or deported without the ability to defend themselves," García stated.
"As the child of a community built by exiles, refugees, and immigrants, I request that due process be respected and that each case be evaluated individually," he added.
The senator warned that many people protected by legal programs such as TPS or SIJ status are being detained and deported irregularly.
"We're seeing laws being applied retroactively to individuals with legal status. This is very un-American. We can do a better job," he said.
García demanded that each case be reviewed individually, deportations to third countries be halted, and temporary protected status (TPS) programs be extended until a permanent solution is reached for law-abiding migrants.
The lawyer Amanda Fernández, representative of CABA, warned that these actions are and destroying families that adhere to the rules.
“We are seeing people who follow the rules being unexpectedly detained. This punishes precisely those who do what the law requires,” Fernández stated.
It also reported that minors with special protection status (SIJ) are being detained without legal justification or proper judicial review.
He mentioned the case of Eduardo, a Guatemalan worker, who claims that “He did not commit any crime. He spent 17 days in Krome and then was sent to Louisiana. We don’t know why.”
Also the one from Manny, the uncle of a young man arrested after a minor accident: “He has been in jail for two months for no reason. They just arrested him.”
Madeleine, the mother of adeported Cuban to Mexico, reported to the senator that her son, “They deported him without papers, without anything, without the opportunity to defend his case. It's an injustice.”
García described these cases as “a troubling pattern” of immigration decisions made without respecting constitutional guarantees.
The senator insisted that his request is not political, but rather a moral appeal for humanity and transparency in the immigration system.
“Our community was created by exiles and immigrants. We must raise our voices to defend those who came searching for freedom. The United States can secure its borders without sacrificing its principles,” García stated.
According to data from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), since January 2025, more than 527,000 immigrants have been deported and 1.6 million chose voluntary departure.
The DHS claims that 70% of ICE arrests are of individuals with criminal backgrounds, although human rights organizations question the transparency of the process.
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