immigrants

"Hands Across America 2.0 is about bringing communities together to stand united to save our democracy, support our immigrant neighbors, and show that the will of the people still matters," Myra Kremenitzer, head of Indivisible Boca Raton, said in a statement announcing Monday’s planned protest.

It’s the first installment of the $608 million FEMA grant Florida’s been waiting for since the detention center opened last summer.

The rally is in response to the latest reports that show the number of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE arrests of suspected undocumented immigrants has surged since President Donald Trump took office in January 2025.

At least 46 people under ICE custody have died since the start of President Donald Trump’s administration in January 2025, according to a count by The Associated Press. ICE officials have reported 18 deaths since the start of the fiscal year, which began Oct. 1, 2025.

"To be housing ICE detainees in a detention camp in the middle of the Everglades … without making sure that they have enough access to nutritious food and the ability to sleep and have access to counsel — everything about this screams inhumane and unnecessary," U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston, told reporters.

State officials say they will try to root out abuses in the H-1B program during the moratorium, but can make exceptions if they find a critical need for workers.

The popular visa program, established in 1990, allows U.S. employers to hire foreign professionals with highly specialized knowledge and at least a bachelor’s degree. More than 500 foreigners were employed as of last year at Florida public and private universities under the program.

A Colombian legislator joined local clergy and immigrant advocates on Sunday in demanding Alligator Alcatraz be closed and detainees released to end what they describe as a "national and international" human rights crisis.

The Florida House voted Thursday to revive the state’s expired emergency fund — embattled because of an immigration enforcement tab totaling in the hundreds of millions — but with a few weakened changes to appease the DeSantis administration.

Prolonged detention has become more common in President Donald Trump’s second term, at least partly because a new policy generally prohibits immigration judges from releasing detainees while their deportation cases wind through backlogged courts.

Amid mounting outrage across the nation over the fatal shooting of 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Pretti by Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis, an ongoing civic campaign in Miami is continuing its clarion call condemning the Trump administration's "cruel immigration policies and dangerous abuses of power targeting immigrant communities."

Since Inauguration Day, more than 1.5 million immigrants have either lost or will lose their temporary legal status, including their work authorizations and deportation protections. It’s the most rapid loss in legal status for immigrants in recent United States history.