Protect Immigrants Rights’ in Miami-Dade County

TAKE ACTION NOW

Immigrants have played a vital role in building Miami-Dade County. From opening small businesses, bakeries, and restaurants to serving as public officials or being essential workers, immigrants have helped our community prosper for years and contribute millions of dollars to our local economy.

Miami-Dade County wouldn’t be what it is today without the ongoing contributions made by immigrants from across the globe. And yet, many immigrants live in fear that they will be subjected to immigrant detention and be put into the inhumane deportation pipeline.

Right now, local officials are forced to follow one-size-fits-all policies that burden local police and take their focus away from community needs in order to support the federal government’s deportation agenda.

Miami-Dade County needs to make local decisions that will keep our loved ones, friends and families safe from overzealous ICE agents. Every person in our county, regardless of their status, should be able to live, work, raise their family, and travel without fear of violence, harrassment and discrimination. We cannot let the federal government’s failure to create a realistic path to citizenship for hard-working immigrant families result in their forced deportation.

Use the form below to send your email and tell Miami-Dade Commissioners to pass local ordinances that will protect immigrants and strengthen your communities.

[The Form Label field is hidden on ACLU message action forms]
Your Message
Dear Miami-Dade County Board of County Commissioners,

One in five people in Florida are immigrants. In Miami-Dade, over half of the population is foreign-born. This means that every day, many people in our community live in fear that they or their loved ones will be subjected to immigrant detention or put into the inhumane deportation pipeline.

Historically and especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, we are seeing essential and undocumented workers live in constant anxiety as they travel to work, preoccupied with providing for their families and hoping they won’t be stopped and asked about their immigration status. The reality is many immigrants are stopped and detained for minor traffic violations or for simply being undocumented. An interaction that unfortunately leads to detention, family separation, deportation, or even death at the hands of ICE.

As commissioner, there are actions you can take right now to protect immigrants and make our community safer for everyone. I urge you to pass a local ordinance that includes the following policies to provide comprehensive protections for immigrants.

1. Prohibiting discrimination based on race, national origin, color, ability to speak English, and other factors that are specific to immigrant communities.
2. Protect crime victims and enhance community safety by creating clear processes for employing U visa forms for immigrants reporting crimes.
3. Creating an Immigrant Legal Assistance Fund to assist immigrants in unwarranted detention and deportation cases and ensure that immigrant parents are not separated from their children. As we know, minority communities are disproportionately policed. Black and brown communities need due process and access to legal representation.
4. Enhance transparency and oversight of any immigrant enforcement operations happening in your community and create avenues for community input on data and decisions being made relating to immigrants.
5. Decline to contract or enter into certain agreements with ICE.
6. Create processes to preserve immigrants’ rights for those subject to immigration detainers.

If we want to continue to be a place of growth and progress, Miami-Dade County must take action and help protect immigrants’ right to live, work and provide their families a better life.

Sincerely,

[First Name] [Last Name]
[Your Address]

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