Activists renew calls for Miami to end ICE agreement. Mayor is in support

Tess Riski, Miami Herald on Aug 3, 2026

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

MIAMI — With thousands of Haitians in South Florida facing uncertainty after losing their work authorizations last week, activists are renewing their calls to Miami’s elected officials to rescind the city’s immigration enforcement agreement with ICE.

On Monday, about a dozen organizers gathered outside City Hall to call on Mayor Eileen Higgins and city commissioners to end the 287(g) agreement the city entered into last summer despite overwhelming public outcry. The federal program empowers local law enforcement officers to carry out immigration enforcement actions.

State Rep. Angie Nixon specifically called on Higgins, a Democrat in an officially nonpartisan post, saying “this is not just about Republicans.”

“They’re not the only ones fueling this,” said Nixon, a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate. “We need to pay attention, because there are some Democrats who need to have the political courage to stand up and do the right thing. And so I am asking Mayor Higgins and all of the city council members to end this agreement and start allowing people to be healthy, to be prosperous and safe.”

While Higgins was not yet mayor at the time the City Commission entered into the agreement, activists pointed out that she criticized the city’s decision to enter the 287(g) agreement during her campaign.

Since her election in December, Higgins has affirmed that she supports ending the city’s ICE partnership. But without a vote on the five-member City Commission, her powers are somewhat limited. While Higgins could bring forward legislation of her own to end 287(g), it would go nowhere without support from three city commissioners willing to vote for it.

In a statement to the Miami Herald, the mayor reiterated her position Monday.

“Since my campaign and since taking office, I have made clear to the community that we must treat all residents humanely and with dignity, which is why I said the City should revisit the 287(g) agreement,” Higgins said. “Since then, the Commission held a discussion at the end of June, and I look forward to a legislative item reaching my desk so I can sign it swiftly.”

Higgins is referring to a meeting earlier this summer where the City Commission appeared to teeter on the edge of calling for a vote to undo 287(g), with three out of five commissioners saying they were open to rescinding 287(g). The support for doing so was bipartisan on the officially nonpartisan commission, with Commissioner Rolando Escalona, a Republican, joining Commissioners Christine King and Damian Pardo, both Democrats, in expressing a willingness to end the city’s partnership with ICE.

During that meeting, City Manager James Reyes said just two Miami police officers are trained under 287(g) and emphasized that Miami police are not doing any profiling, nor are they asking people about their immigration status.

City Attorney George Wysong warned commissioners that severing the 287(g) agreement would jeopardize approximately $7.5 million in state funding the city receives. But King said if that were to happen, “we will figure it out.”

“$7.5 million is worth saving a life, a family,” King said at the time. “We’ll make it up some kind of way.”

Still, none of the commissioners called for a vote. The commission is now in recess for the summer, with the next meeting scheduled for September.

With just a couple Miami police officers trained under 287(g), and a mayor and city manager who are not aligned with the federal government’s immigration enforcement crackdown agenda, there are questions about how much would change, practically speaking, if the city were to undo the 287(g) agreement.

Speaking outside City Hall on Monday, Arianne Betancourt, whose work with the Workers Circle nonprofit includes connecting people with their family members in detention, said that because of the city’s participation in 287(g), “people are afraid to call the police for help.”

“The people in power need to do what they were elected to do and to represent their constituents,” Betancourt said. “And we are saying it once more: Enough is enough. 287(g) needs to end now.”

Thomas Kennedy of the Florida Immigrant Coalition said the goal is not to pick a fight with Miami police. But the “formalized collaboration” between the city’s police and ICE, he said, “is disturbing and fear-inducing for our community.”

“City officials can offer just a little bit of relief to our community and families,” Kennedy said, “by exiting this needless and stupid 287(g) agreement that’s causing so much grief and anxiety.”

_____