Shocking scenes as woman dragged out of meeting for trying to speak during hearing on ICE rules

Independent

3 days ago

Chants of 'let her speak!' erupted at a Miami-Dade Commission meeting, after a woman was dragged out of the event before being given a chance to give her remarks on a controversial agreement between county jails and ICE.
Video footage and pictures showed the woman, later identified by local Florida news outlets as 36-year-old Camila Ramos, being manhandled by County Sheriff's deputies and falling to the floor at the meeting on Thursday.
'Let go of me!' Ramos shouted repeatedly. 'I can stand and I can be quiet… I have a right to understand this process… Stop it!' The altercation prompted cheers from others assembled in the room.
The incident came after the board's refusal to vote on an agreement between the jails and ICE that advocacy groups say will make it harder for families to track undocumented family members if they are taken into custody.
Resolution 11A also allows the county jails to hold immigration detainees on behalf of ICE for up to 48 hours and charge the government $50 per person, per NBC South Florida.
Ramos allegedly ignored an officer who told her not to speak after Commission Chair Anthony Rodriguez explained he would ban future public comments on the issue if any person chose to speak at the meeting.
The Miami Herald reported that the outburst later prompted further small scuffles with law enforcement.
The scenes in Florida come against the backdrop of an ongoing push by the Trump administration to expand its immigration powers by tapping resources from other federal agencies.
So-called 287(g) agreements — named after a section of the Immigration and Nationality Act — effectively deputize local law enforcement to work with federal agencies to enforce federal law. ICE has signed 571 of those cooperative agreements covering 40 states as of May 18, according to ICE.
The expansion of the 287(g) program 'further fuels Trump's mass deportation agenda by expanding the dragnet for putting people into the arrest to deportation pipeline,' according to the Immigrant Legal Resource Center.
Earlier this month, federal troops were deployed to Los Angeles over the objections of California officials in response to widespread protests against immigration raids, sparking violent clashes in the city and surrounding areas.
Officials reported having carried out roughly 1,200 arrests per day in June, though the number still looks set to increase. White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem have reportedly urged immigration officials to hit 3,000 arrests per day.
Elsewhere in Florida, Trump's allies have signed up in force with state officials reclaiming public land in the Everglades to build 'Alligator Alcatraz' – a prison designed to detain thousands of immigrants. The project is expected to cost roughly $450 million a year to operate.