It’s been a week since immigration raids at construction sites in Tallahassee led to more than 100 arrests.
We dive into the topic on today’s Speaking Of Radio Hour.
You may have seen pictures of the detainees lined up, wearing zip tie handcuffs, and being loaded onto buses. Dozens of law enforcement officers and vehicles surrounded a particularly large construction site along Gaines Street across from Doak Campbell Stadium.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) says more than half a dozen agencies were involved in the sweep. They include the Florida Highway Patrol, the U.S. Marshals Service, even Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF).
Thomas Kennedy with the Florida Immigrant Coalition was one of the first people to post pictures and videos of the raids on social media.
“The operation was so big and so visible and in the heart of the community,” Kennedy says, calling the law enforcement action “militarized.”
“To me it felt like it was them trying to send a message,” Kennedy says. “They want to intimidate people into self-deportation.”
Late Friday, a day after the raids, protestors rallied at the Capitol.
“If I were not a citizen, I would not have come here (to protest). That would be dangerous in light of the recent detentions and deportations,” says Ilya Litvak. He’s from Russia and got his citizenship about a year ago.
The Tallahassee Immigrant Rights Alliance organized the rally. Member Joelle Nunez says her parents are immigrants who attained U.S. citizenship, but she still worries about them.
“So many of these arrests have been based on pure racial profiling without really even checking papers,” Nunez says. “I’m very scared that someone in my family could get arrested. I have so many family members that work on these very construction sites who are visibly Latino who could be a victim of this.”
Nunez says she has concerns about a lack of due process as law enforcers in ski masks arrest people without explanation.
“They’re using the rhetoric of ‘these people are violent criminals that need to be deported’ but then hiding behind (it being) a civil procedure to deny them due process,” Nunez says. “It’s incredibly hypocritical.”
The term ‘due process’ keeps coming up regarding recent immigration arrests around the country. Due process is supposed to guarantee fair procedures and protect people from arbitrary government actions. The term is found in the 5th and 14th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution.
During a recent news conference, Governor Ron DeSantis said due process is not needed for immigration raids like the ones in Tallahassee.
“If you’re here and you’re deported, that’s considered a civil action,” DeSantis said. “If you’re just simply removing them (to) the other side of the border, that does not mean the same due process that would attach to people that are brought up on criminal charges.”
“The governor’s statement is basically a fundamental misunderstanding of constitutional law,” says immigration attorney Elizabeth Ricci of Rambana & Ricci in Tallahassee. (Her law firm is an underwriter of WFSU Public Media.)
“Due process under the 14th Amendment applies to everybody, all persons within U.S. jurisdiction, not just citizens or those charged with crimes. The Supreme Court has twice reaffirmed this,” Ricci says. “While immigration enforcement can occur without criminal charges, it cannot occur without basic procedural protections.”
Evan Power, chair of the Republican Party of Florida, says people who are following the legal path to being in the U.S. have nothing to fear.
“We have many people here illegally that are a danger to our society,” Power says. “Some of them are not…but they broke the law coming here.”
Power says the voters have spoken on this issue, pointing to the last election. President Donald Trump campaigned on tackling illegal immigration.
“They should expect this to happen. It’s what the American people want,” Power says. “There is a process in place for people to come to this country. We need to have people follow it.”
Hear the full conversation by clicking LISTEN above.
