Jacqueline Guzman, deputy mayor of the City of Sunrise, shared a post last week with a video showing federal immigration agents detaining a man on Oakland Park Boulevard and Hiatus Road, with text reading “Truly breaks my heart that families are being torn apart.”
Lori St. John, a real estate agent in Plantation, posted online photos and videos appearing to show federal immigrants agents detaining people in Cooper City. “They are quite literally hunting down people… I saw two people arrested in a matter of minutes.” the post read. "This is horrifying and should concern everyone."
St. John later posted that her landscaper had been detained by ICE. "I was rattled when I head the news and tears came rolling down my face. Not for me, but for him and his family," the post read. She later posted an update that her landscaper was being detained in the Natrona County Detention Center in Casper, Wyoming.
The owner of a Broward County-based landscaping business, who did not want to be identified for fear of retribution by federal immigration authorities, told WLRN that he worries his workers — all of whom have legal status — could be targeted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
“These are the people who go out and sweat through the hottest days and terrible weather to make sure that we have beautiful streets and beautiful neighborhoods. It brings me to tears to think about these people– who work some of the hardest jobs– that we're willing to throw them to the wind because they look different than us,” the business owners said.
The social media posts by local public officials and Broward County residents comes at a time when the Trump administration is deploying ICE agents nationwide to track down suspected undocumented immigrants and deport them in record numbers. In Florida, Florida Highway Patrol officers and other law enforcement authorities are assisting in the immigration crackdown.
Trump administration officials counter that 70% of undocumented immigrants arrested are "criminal aliens" — meaning they have been charged or convicted of a crime in the U.S.
Last week, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security launched a website — “Worst of the Worst." It is a searchable database of apprehended undocumented immigrants convicted of crimes and includes dozens of pages of people arrested in Florida.
READ MORE: 'ICE kidnapped a community member here': Protesters raise concerns over immigration crackdown
The Broward landscaping business owner said some of the company’s employees have been with the firm for decades and are here with permission to work in the U.S. with legal visas. Among them: Haitian immigrants with Temporary Protected Status, or TPS.
TPS was created by Congress and is renewable every 18 months at executive discretion. It allows migrants from countries torn by disasters or political violence to remain in the U.S., protected from deportation, until it is deemed OK for them to go back.
TPS for Haitians was conferred in the wake of Haiti's catastrophic 2010 earthquake, which killed at least 200,000 people. Since then it has been renewed and expanded largely due to Haiti's collapsed public security. The Trump administration recently announced TPS would expire in February for about 500,000 Haitians nationwide, including tens of thousands who live and work in South Florida.
“When you hear some of the stories of literally heroic escape from their native country to come here, it's heartbreaking. And now they've built lives. They've had children here. They've made a place in the community. They have bank accounts. They pay taxes,” said the business owner, who said other local landscaping businesses could be hurt by the federal enforcement efforts.
ICE officials in South Florida did not respond to WLRN requests for comment about enforcement operations in Broward County.
DHS, which oversees ICE, announced last Wednesday it had deported more than 605,000 undocumented immigrants since President Donald Trump took office in January. DHS also reported that 1.9 million people had voluntarily "self-deported."
"DHS has prioritized removing the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens as part of the Trump Administration’s efforts to return law and order to the United States," said DHS officials in a statement.
"We encourage all illegal aliens to use the CBP Home app to get a free flight home for Christmas and $1,000," DHS officials said.
“Illegal aliens are hearing our message to leave now. They know if they don’t, we will find them, we will arrest them, and they will never return," said DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin.
