Immigration activists from the city of Doral say they’ve found some “common ground” with the mayor over immigration enforcement.
But they still disagree about whether the city must keep its controversial 287(g) agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, — and whether ending it would even make a difference.
The city last year approved the 287(g) agreement last year to assist and cooperate with ICE agents with detaining migrants the agency says are here illegally. It has made many residents angry and fearful.
Doral has a large immigrant population. More than seven in 10 residents were born outside the U.S. and the city's is nicknamed "Doralzuela" because it has the largest concentration of Venezuelans in the nation.
ICE's increased presence in Doral has left residents afraid to leave their homes, and businesses report plummeting sales.
READ MORE: South Florida Democrats home in on Doral's rising immigration arrest fears as a mid-term target
Some residents are calling on the city to end its 287(g) agreement, which allows the federal agency to deputize local officers for immigration enforcement.
Juan Cuba, a community leader, said he met with Mayor Christi Fraga this week alongside other activists.
Cuba said the mayor agreed that immigration enforcement was negatively impacting the community, families and businesses. But, like other local elected officials, continues to operate from “a place of fear” from top Florida officials and President Donald Trump.
“Fear of retaliation from the governor and the attorney general, including the threat of removal from office,” Cuba said. “And fear that refusing to cooperate could bring even more aggressive ICE enforcement from the Trump administration.”
The Doral City Council first approved a resolution authorizing the city to enter an agreement with ICE in April 2025. At the time the letter was signed, city attorney Lorenzo Cobiella said not entering a 287(g) would put Doral in violation of Florida statutes.
Cobiella referenced a law banning “sanctuary cities,” or those that adopt a policy impeding law enforcement from complying with federal immigration cooperation. He also read a letter from Attorney General James Uthemeir to the city of Fort Myers, which read that the city had violated the sanctuary city law by failing to pass a 287(g) referendum.
“Attorney general opinions are extremely persuasive, and they are followed, and they’re meant to,” he said. “Besides that, the attorney general does have the power to do what he is stating here — enforcing criminal penalties and civil penalties amongst all of you.”
But activists point out state statutes only require sheriffs or county jail operators to enter written agreements with ICE. Other local agencies must simply “use their best efforts” to support federal immigration enforcement.
“This is not about whether the city of Doral has to follow the law,” said Jeanette Ynfante, a senior staff attorney at the Southern Poverty Law Center, at a press briefing Wednesday. “We know they have to follow the law, but this is about recognizing that the law gives Doral leaders a choice based on what is best for the community it serves.”
Several other South Florida cities — including Miramar, Coral Springs and Pompano Beach, all with large immigrant communites — have not signed 287(g) agreements.
The largest city in Florida to not sign an ICE contract is Fort Lauderdale, with a population of about 185,600. Doral is less than half that size.
After the morning session of Wednesday’s council meeting, Mayor Fraga said she decided to enter the agreement based on advice at the time from the city’s legal team. Every attorney can interpret the law in different ways, she said.
“The position that was given to us at that time and the advice is still the position our attorney is taking,” she said.
She also pointed out immigration fear has come from raids conducted by federal agents — not from local officers being trained or deputized under 287(g). The current uneasy atmosphere would still be there whether or not the city had an agreement, she said, as Doral has no power to impede federal officers from making arrests in the city.
“As far as the 287(g) and our position and how our policing policies have continued, that has not changed,” she said.
It’s unclear how many arrests ICE agents made in the city of Doral specifically, though detainments across Florida are on the rise.
ICE agents detained over 28,600 Floridians in July 2026, an increase of about 400 from the month prior, according to the Deportation Data Project. Arrests increased about 15% over the same period.
White House border czar Tom Homan visited Doral Oct. 1 to announce those numbers will only grow.
Tomas Kennedy, a spokesperson with the Florida Immigrant Coalition, said the 287(g) agreement still leaves the door open for being coerced in the future by state and federal authorites.
The agreement has damaged local trust in law enforcement, Kennedy added. People are afraid to call the police, he said, because they’re worried about becoming targets of immigration enforcement.
About 3,000 migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border from October 2018 to early July 2025 reported a postal code in the northeast corner of Doral as their onward destination, according to government data obtained by AP. That’s the second-highest number among all postal codes in the state for Venezuelan migrants, only behind one in Kissimmee.
“We are not accusing Doral police of actively collaborating in this witch hunt, but if ICE were to make a direct request of Doral Police, they would have to comply,” Kennedy said. “It's also about the message that this sends the community.”
Eleazar Guevara, a nine-year Doral resident, brought a folder he said contained 160 signatures — collected via Google Form from community members opposed to the ICE agreement — to Wednesday’s council meeting.
Those signatures won’t force council members to take any action. Although Doral electors can propose ordinances to the council, they must gather petitions from at least 10% of the total number of people registered to vote in the most recent election to do so.
More than 4,000 city resident cast ballots in a December 2024 special election.
