FL NOW strongly condemns the cruelty of the recent escalation of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids across Florida and the nation, as well as the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda that includes the transfer of detainees to foreign prisons with documented human rights abuses.
“These actions are not about public safety—they are about fear, control, and the systemic destruction of immigrant communities,” said FL NOW President, Julie Kent. “Women and children are being detained in overcrowded, unsanitary conditions, denied medical care, and subjected to psychological trauma. This is state-sponsored violence.”
FL NOW is particularly alarmed by substantiated reports of:
- Overcrowding and medical neglect in Florida detention centers like Krome.
- Deportations to prisons in countries with known human rights violations, including El Salvador’s CECOT facility.
- Targeted ICE raids at workplaces and schools, disproportionately affecting women, families, and essential workers.
- Suppression of protest and dissent, including threats of prosecution against those who oppose these policies.
“These policies are not only cruel—they are deeply gendered,” said Julie Kent. “Immigrant women face heightened risks of abuse, family separation, and reproductive injustice under this regime.”
FL NOW calls on Florida lawmakers, local officials, and community leaders to:
- Demand an immediate halt to ICE raids on peaceful immigrant locations and cessation of deportations without due process.
- Investigate and shut down detention centers with documented abuses.
- Protect the right to protest and organize without fear of criminalization.
- Pass local sanctuary policies and resist federal overreach.
“We will not be silent while our neighbors are dragged from their homes, our children are traumatized, and our values are trampled,” said Debbie Deland Vice President, FL NOW. “This is not justice. This is not freedom. And we will fight back.”
Contact: Debbie Deland, Vice President FL NOW, 407 234-6408, vp@flnow.org
