Protest Against 287 (g) in the City of Miami
Why the City of Miami should not voluntarily partner with ICE.
by Anthony David Vernon
Crime is not equally enforced. This is no mystery but is readily apartment when it comes to immigration enforcement, “Why doesn’t the government go after the EMPLOYERS?” I am not calling to go after employers or undocumented migrants, this is to say that one set of people living their largely living their lives is targeted while the other is left alone. ICE is not just going after criminals made clear in part by “‘Operation Tidal Wave,’ [which has] targeted undocumented migrants at both apartment complexes and job sites.” This is on top of concerns that ICE is acting as a lawless Gestapo as they handcuff politicians such as New York City controller Brad Lander (Rational National).
Yet, there is a growth of states and cities taking on Section 287 (g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which allows a given state or city to volunteer their law enforcement resources to work directly with ICE on all immigration arrests, be they civil or criminal arrests (ICE.Gov). Florida is one of many states who has signed onto this agreement, and Florida requires all of its counties to act under 287 (g). Given this, Miami-Dade County police must abide by 287 (g), but the municipality’s police forces within Miami-Dade County, such as the City of Miami, at this time do not have to abide by 287 (g) but can choose to sign onto 287 (g).
Originally, the City of Miami was going to hold a hearing at its city hall to consider signing onto 287 (g) on Thursday, June 12th.
But this meeting was postponed and moved to Tuesday, June 17th. This event was heavily protested by a variety of individuals and organizations against the City of Miami signing onto 287 (g). The organizations included Power U, ACLU Florida, Florida Rising, Engage, the Miami Workers Center, the Democratic Socialists of America, the Party for Socialism and Liberation, Catalyst Miami, the People’s Progressive Caucus, and Abel S. Delgado, president of the Miami-Dade Democratic Hispanic Caucus. All placed by City of Miami police, a bit off of and not in front of Miami’s city hall. This group was a mixture of center-left folks, lefties, social democrats, socialists, and, surprisingly, two black bloc guys.
With protestors amassed, this June 17th hearing was also almost postponed, but the proceedings carried on. I did not take a seat at the hearing due to the event being packed, but I received correspondence that the vote on 287 (g) was deferred by full consent.
ICE is the front line of cruel immigration policies, having a deportation quota of 3,000 persons a day (New York Post), abuses at the Krome Detention Center (AP), and operating in plain clothes, which creates communal fear (Immigrant Defense Project). In my opinion, the existence of ICE as it currently stands and international deportation to locations such as El Salvador and South Sudan are violations of human rights. The debates on undocumented immigration have left the realm of a pathway to citizenship or limited immigration. Instead, the United States is at the crossroads of xenophobic mass deportation, regardless of whether the migrants are criminals or not. Trump himself admitted his administration was not just going after criminals when he wrote, “Our great farmers and people in the Hotel and Leisure business have been stating that our very aggressive policy on immigration is taking very good, long-time workers away from them” (NBC News). This tweet became a directive, yet this directive not to go after undocumented farmers and hospitality workers was rapidly reversed (USA Today).
If cruelty and not considering individual situations is the policy of ICE, then I encourage peaceful protest in your city or state if they consider signing onto 287 (g). Maximally, ICE as it exists must be abolished or reformed to the point that it is unrecognizable. ICE has been around since 2003, immigration enforcement does not necessitate the existence of ICE, especially since ICE operates as a lawless masked law enforcement making ‘accidental’ arrests against non-violent people.
Changes and pushing back against ICE cannot just be deferred; ICE, alongside other policies, needs to be pushed back against if the United States wants humane and reasonable immigration policies.