31-01-2025
Undocumented immigrants in Tallahassee area on red alert amid recent ICE activity
Undocumented immigrants in Tallahassee area on red alert amid recent ICE activity
In a trailer park in Jefferson County, a knock on the door prompted whimpers on the other side and the muffled thumps of small feet running away.
It was around 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, and children were home, afraid that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents would be waiting at school to take them away.
A boy who appeared no older than 12 barely cracked his door open to speak. He said he and his friends were staying home from school and that the only ones going to class were those born in the United States.
'Every time I see a car, I turn off the TV and run to the back' of his home, he said.
Despite rumors to the contrary, ICE hadn't made an appearance at the Jefferson County K-12 School or at the school district's office in Monticello, a small town located just east of Tallahassee.
Jefferson County Schools Superintendent Jackie Pons spent Wednesday morning in front of the school by the drop-off lane, speaking to parents and reassuring them that their children would be safe at school. He told the USA TODAY Florida-Network he had not been contacted by anyone from ICE.
'Some of the information that got out has created a lot of anxiety,' Pons said.
The day before, U.S. Homeland Security Investigations in Tallahassee and the Florida Highway Patrol detained 12 people in Jefferson County believed by authorities to be residing illegally in Florida. The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles posted blurred photos of the detainees, some in handcuffs, on social media along with a pledge to 'execute the Trump illegal immigration mandate!'
Also on that Tuesday, GOP lawmakers at the Capitol passed the 'Tackling and Reforming Unlawful Migration Policy' or TRUMP Act in a brief but drama-filled special session.
DeSantis called the measure "weak," even though it would impose a mandatory death penalty for immigrants who enter the country illegally and commit a capital crime like murder. The governor, whose own proposal was snubbed by legislators, will likely veto it.
Less than two weeks after President Donald Trump — who campaigned on a promise of mass deportations — took office for his second term, fear and panic has spread through immigrant communities across the Tallahassee area and the nation.
Rumors of raids and roundups at restaurants, businesses, schools and construction sites have flooded Facebook and other social media platforms. Text messages with dire warnings have also circulated in the Hispanic community.
'Immigration is in town,' said one of the texts. 'They are picking people up at workplaces. Warn everyone.'
More: What can I do if I fear an ICE raid? How to respond to immigrant enforcement agents
At least one Florida Panhandle resident abruptly deported
Many of the rumored ICE operations remain unverified. However, there have been hints of increased enforcement in Tallahassee and confirmation of at least one sudden deportation of a Panhandle man back to Mexico.
The Leon County Sheriff's Office's computer-aided dispatch report for Wednesday showed 23 different incidents at the ICE compound on Commonwealth Business Drive, all relating to charges of lewdness. Tammy Spicer, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, said she couldn't provide information about the LCSO reports or the 12 people who were detained in Jefferson County.
"At this time, the increased interest in our mission means we are not able to research and confirm/refute every law enforcement action," she said in an email.
The Washington Post reported that Stephen Miller, White House chief of staff for policy, confirmed on Tuesday that ICE officials have been told that each of its field offices should make at least 75 arrests a day, a figure he described to CNN as "a floor, not a ceiling."
ICE has field offices in several Florida cities, including Miami, Orlando and Tampa, according to the agency's website. ICE also has an office in Tallahassee, located on Commonwealth Business Drive, that includes a check-in center and a holding area for people who have been arrested or detained.
On Tuesday, a man in plain clothes wearing a badge walked out of the ICE office and spoke briefly with a reporter about enforcement activity in the Tallahassee area.
"It happens every day ― has been for the last eight to 10 years," the officer said.
Tallahassee immigration attorneys Neil Rambana and Elizabeth Ricci said they learned Wednesday about a client from the Milton area who was abruptly deported after a roundup in Texas.
'He was visiting with some folks in Texas and got rounded up with with some other people and lo and behold, (his) employer called me today and said he's over in Mexico,' Rambana said Wednesday afternoon.
The man was in immigration court and going through the deportation process in which a judge would adjudicate whether he would be allowed to remain in the U.S., Rambana said. He had entered the country many years ago without documentation but was authorized to work here.
He was unsure of the exact circumstances surrounding the man's deportation. But he said he and Ricci are trying to educate the public about the difference between ICE warrants, which allow agents to pick up undocumented people if they are in a public place, and judicial warrants, which would include a probable cause finding.
'You can't enter their home, you can't enter their vehicle, you can't enter their business unless you have a judicial warrant, which would be signed by a judge,' Rambana said. 'That's very important for people to understand.'
Mas: Nuevas ordenes de immigración: Esto es lo que pueden hacer en el condado de Palm Beach
Woman helping undocumented mother and child: 'She's afraid'
At one suburban home in Tallahassee, two little boys ― one the son of undocumented immigrants ― played together on the living room floor as a toy dinosaur emitted an electronic roar. When a reporter arrived, the mother of one of the toddlers disappeared with him into a back bedroom.
The woman, her husband and their son, all of whom hail from El Salvador, had been living in a mobile home park in Tallahassee but left on Monday after hearing about a reported but unconfirmed ICE raid there. They were taken in by another couple, both U.S. citizens, who live elsewhere in the city.
The woman who is helping them said her friend didn't see immigration agents knocking on doors or taking people away at the mobile home park. But she said a neighbor had relayed that information to the family.
'They escaped,' she said. 'This mama, she's afraid that she will lose the boy. If they pick up the mama and the papa ... how are they going to feel if they put him alone, with no one, with nobody?'
She said the family crossed into the U.S. legally some years ago but never finished the process to stay. She said she is hoping to get guardianship of the boy so that if his parents are deported, she can deliver him to them later.
'I want to be an angel to cover everybody,' the friend said.
Immigration lawyer: Unfounded rumors on social media 'so dangerous'
Fueling some of the anxiety were messages flying around on social media. A flurry of photos and posts have appeared in recent days in the feeds of at least one Facebook group of Latinos in the Tallahassee area.
Posts over the last couple days include videos of law enforcement next to unmarked SUVs in parking lots and on the side of the road — along with with cautionary messages. One post showed the outside of a Chevron gas station.
'They're just standing there, I don't know what they're planning, but be careful going through there,' the post says.
Elsewhere on Facebook, someone posting on behalf of Silver Lake Meat Market on Blountstown Highway pleaded with people to 'stop spreading false information.'
'Please if you drive by the front and see police cars in the front it's because they are eating inside the business it's not because it's ICE,' the post read. 'This affects all businesses please try to be well informed before saying anything.'
Ricci said spreading unfounded information wasn't helping the situation.
'People put on (social media) 'I heard this, I heard that',' she said. 'That is so dangerous. I have not heard any of those things firsthand, and I'm not going to tell people things that could just cause anxiety and cost money and create problems for families.'
Some students pulled out out Leon County Schools over ICE fears
Across the Capital City, there have been other signs of the worry spreading through immigrant and minority communities.
Leon County Schools officials said there have been no sign of ICE agents on any of its campuses. However, one district employee told the Democrat that several students had been pulled out of school because of enforcement fears.
Ricci heard from one Florida State University professor who said the parking lot at their department was 'basically empty' even though most of the students are here legally with visas. A Puerto Rican friend called her with concerns — even though she's a U.S. citizen.
'The fear that's going on right now is not just among undocumented immigrants,' Ricci said. 'People are getting concerned because they don't 'look American' and think someone is going to arrest them, separate them from their family, they'll lose their job. Whether it's true or not, people are feeling those things.'
Contact Jeff Burlew at jburlew@ or 850-599-2180. Ana Goñi-Lessan, state watchdog reporter for the USA TODAY Network – Florida, can be reached at agonilessan@
