immigrants

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.

The 1.6 million number marks the largest-ever effort to strip permissions for immigrants who attempted to migrate to the country through legal means, advocates say.

A coalition of Florida grassroots organizations held an "art-based" protest Saturday night outside the Adrienne Arsht Center for Performing Arts, calling out Florida Grand Opera Chair Tina Vidal-Duart, accusing her of profiting from the detention of immigrants at Alligator Alcatraz.

But the number is impossible to measure since Congress let lapse a requirement that ICE report how many pregnant, postpartum and nursing immigrants are in custody.

Farmers said intense immigration enforcement is creating fear among their employees who work on H-2A visas.

Sunday's protest, now in its eighth week, comes amid new reports of alleged medical neglect, violations of attorney-client privilege, and a large number of detainees who have all but disappeared from official federal records.