A day after a protest rally in Fort Myers decried the alleged housing of immigration and customs enforcement agents at area hotels, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced the arrest of an undocumented immigrant who allegedly assaulted an ICE agent in Fort Myers Aug. 19.
Wednesday evening, over 150 people gathered near the Luminary Hotel in downtown Fort Myers protesting what they said was the use of hotels in the city as well as in Estero by ICE agents.
Organizer James Abraham of Babcock Ranch said protesting such as the Wednesday event can lead to change: “In Minnesota, if you remember, ICE came in like gangsters, loud and boisterous. Because of the amount of protests, they changed their complete approach. Now they sneak around and arrest people at airports, at churches. We made that happen. We didn’t just be quiet and allow it. And we’re going to keep making noise until they leave our community.”
Thursday morning Uthmeier announced via a press release the arrest of Maria Del Carmen Negrete Raya, an undocumented person from Mexico, on charges of battery on a law enforcement officer following what the released described as an attack on federal immigration officers during an immigration enforcement operation in Fort Myers on August 19.
“Florida will not tolerate anyone—especially those who shouldn’t even be in our country—attacking our law enforcement officers,” Uthmeier said. “Our federal partners are here to enforce the law and defend America’s sovereignty. Those who assault them will face the full weight of the law. Thanks to the Office of Statewide Prosecution, the Florida Highway Patrol, ICE, and the Lee County Sheriff’s Office for investigating this case and bringing this illegal alien in to face justice.”
On August 19, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations officers conducting an immigration enforcement operation in Fort Myers attempted to stop a vehicle registered to a non-U.S. citizen.
Uthmeier’s release said that after the vehicle’s occupants fled, Negrete Raya confronted the officers, charged toward their vehicle in an attempt to enter it, and kicked and punched the officers, including striking one in the groin. The officer sustained minor injuries as a result.
Uthmeier’s release said ICE ERO disengaged to de-escalate.
Uthmeier’s release said that Negrete Raya, 39, entered the United States without inspection and filed an asylum application in 2023. She is amenable to removal as an alien present without admission or parole.
She was arrested on three counts of Battery on a law enforcement officer.
National data shows that just in the month of July, 50 thousand immigrants across the country were arrested by ICE, the highest amount under the second Trump administration so far.
Sources say about 100 agents came from the Miami area and have been lodging in four hotels across Fort Myers and Estero since this past weekend. They say the immigrant community is bracing for heightened ICE activities this week in Lee County.
Jane Merriam, of Punta Gorda, one of those protesting Wednesday in Fort Myers, said she was dismayed at the recent surge of ICE activities, calling them disgraceful.
“All they’re doing is separating families and terrifying everybody, and when you take away a husband or a mother or a father, all you’re doing is putting their children, who are usually U.S. citizens, in jeopardy, and you’re creating more poverty and you’re losing a lot of good workers,” Merriam said.
She said that while there are always bad apples that may spoil any bunch, the majority of those impacted by ICE activities are productive members of society.
“Dare I say, after the hurricanes that we’ve suffered, if we hadn’t had immigrants in this community, we’d also have blue tarps on our roofs, and we wouldn’t have any crops,” Merriam said. “They’re our backbone of the community.”
The protest attracted people of all ages, including 20-year-old Shane Hudson, who attended the event alone. He said while this may be his first protest, it won’t be his last.
“Everybody should fight,” Hudson said. “Everybody has a hand in this.”
Hudson said he is “sick” of what he calls a modern “moral dilemma.”
“If you don’t go out and protest, you can go online and say this s**t, but when you’re in person, you have to do something,” Hudson said.
He said he hopes people his age can see how important it is to get off the internet and instead get out into the community to make a difference.
“Don’t be afraid. There are people out there that are doing their best, just like the people that you saw protesting,” Hudson said. “I chanted, but it’s still not enough. I should have come out here with a sign.”
He ends by referencing a quote made by John F. Kennedy in 1962, “those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.”
“I see protests all over the United States, and when I saw this today, I was like, I have to go out,” Hudson said. “It means something to somebody, and it’s going to do something.”
WGCU contacted the Luminary Hotel and spoke with a front desk supervisor who would neither confirm nor deny the presence of ICE agents.
WGCU multimedia journalists Youn-Joo Park and Samuel Brucker contributed to this report. WGCU is your trusted source for news and information in Southwest Florida. We are a nonprofit public service, and your support is more critical than ever. Keep public media strong and donate now. Thank you.
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