In a Tampa WhatsApp group with nearly 300 members, alerts pile up fast, one after another.<\/p>\n
\u201cBe very careful, Tampa! They\u2019re out doing immigration checks!\u201d a recent message said, sharing a video that appears to show police and immigration agents near a shopping mall around Hillsborough and Armenia avenues.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t go out today,\u201d advised another.<\/p>\n
New posts come in all day. They are from workers sharing photos of traffic stops, mothers who\u2019ve seen police near schools. They spread warnings of immigration agents circling local businesses.<\/p>\n
When President Donald Trump returned to office and rolled out a tough-on-immigration platform a year ago, families across Tampa Bay described fears about their future and the status of their immigration cases, many of which hung in limbo. In recent weeks, though, community advocates, lawyers and parents across the region say something has changed.<\/p>\n
That fear has turned into panic.<\/p>\n
Advocates and attorneys say the shift has become visible as immigration enforcement has grown more intense. Deaths in Minneapolis, where two U.S. citizens were shot in separate incidents by federal agents, made the anxiety worse, they said.<\/p>\n
Now, even incidents that turn out to be false alarms or misunderstandings, such as county workers mistaken for federal agents, spread quickly online and amplify the sense of insecurity.<\/p>\n
Recent surveys show Americans\u2019 increasing opposition to how immigration enforcement is being carried out. Public concern grew after the fatal Minneapolis shootings of Renee Good on Jan. 7 and Alex Pretti on Jan. 24.<\/p>\n
A PBS News\/NPR\/Marist survey conducted after the last shooting found that about 65% of Americans say ICE has \u201cgone too far,\u201d up from 54% last summer. In early February, a Quinnipiac University poll showed that disapproval of ICE\u2019s enforcement tactics grew from 57% in mid-January to 63%. A survey by The Economist\/YouGov found that 50% of Americans think Trump\u2019s approach to immigration policy is \u201ctoo harsh,\u201d compared with 36% who say it\u2019s \u201cabout right.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nonprofits that support immigrant rights say the enforcement climate is creating daily stress for families who feel they are living under constant scrutiny.<\/p>\n
\u201cRacial profiling is a real fear, including among American-born youth of indigenous descent,\u201d said Renata Bozzetto, deputy director of the Florida Immigrant Coalition. \u201cWe get reports from our members and partners of restaurants losing business, churches having lower attendance and community events having very low turnout.\u201d<\/p>\n
Immigration attorney Milton Toro said the tension is not only spreading on social platforms. His office is receiving more than triple the number of calls compared with last year.<\/p>\n
Instead of asking about paperwork or long-term cases, Toro said families are asking: \u201cWhat do I do if ICE shows up today? Do I open the door? Who will take care of my children if I\u2019m detained?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey sound frantic,\u201d Toro said. \u201cThey are in distress and basically living something similar to what they lived in their country.\u201d<\/p>\n
The change is also affecting how community groups operate. Nancy Hern\u00e1ndez, an advocate who distributes food and supplies at her nonprofit along Nebraska Avenue, said families have started asking if she could help them deliver food and supplies directly to their homes. They don\u2019t want to be exposed to law enforcement.<\/p>\n
Hern\u00e1ndez, founder of the local group Mujeres Restauradas por Dios, or Women Restored by God, said it\u2019s a valid concern. One morning in late January, she said she saw immigration agents driving around her nonprofit while her volunteers were preparing food. In five years since opening, she said she\u2019s never seen anything like it.<\/p>\n
Enterprising Latinas, a group that helps women start small businesses in Wimauma, organized an educational workshop this month so parents would know how and when to sign a legal power-of-attorney. The document allows a trusted person to represent children at school or in court, make medical decisions, and arrange care or travel if parents are deported.<\/p>\n
Enterprising Latinas founder Elizabeth Guti\u00e9rrez said her group has stepped in at times when families felt confused or needed support, such as during hurricane season or the COVID-19 pandemic. This time, she said, parents are asking how to prepare in case they are arrested by immigration authorities.<\/p>\n
The Rev. Andy Oliver of Allendale United Methodist Church in St. Petersburg said this sense of panic is no longer felt only by immigrant families but also by U.S. citizens.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are hearing from undocumented people and U.S. citizens alike who feel constantly on edge,\u201d Oliver said.<\/p>\n
Social workers have told Oliver that some survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault and other crimes don\u2019t want to report what happened to them. They worry that seeking help could lead to detention or deportation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis moment feels heavier and more urgent than last year,\u201d Oliver said. \u201cThat fear makes our entire community less safe.\u201d<\/p>\n
Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in an email to the Tampa Bay Times that people in the country legally have no reason to worry.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy would people here legally be afraid? DHS doesn\u2019t arrest people here legally. If there is fear it is because the media and politicians have manufactured it,\u201d McLaughlin wrote.<\/p>\n
In a statement provided by a spokesperson, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement concurred, saying that \u201celected officials choosing to fearmonger by distorting reality are doing a great disservice to our country.\u201d<\/p>\n
New rules enacted last year expanded cooperation between law enforcement agencies and federal immigration authorities. Local police say they haven\u2019t noticed changes in reporting or community interactions.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are fortunate to have strong, positive relationships across Hillsborough County, and we work every day to preserve those bonds through consistent outreach and engagement,\u201d Hillsborough Sheriff Chad Chronister said in a statement.<\/p>\n
In St. Petersburg, police spokesperson Yolanda Fernandez said they have not noticed a decline in calls for service, \u201cso we cannot determine whether someone isn\u2019t reporting a crime,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Jessica Mackesy, a spokesperson for the Pinellas County Sheriff\u2019s Office, said they have not seen any change \u201cbeyond the general concerns that people always express.\u201d The Pasco Sheriff\u2019s Office said the volume of tips has remained steady.<\/p>\n
For others, such as protest organizers, tension and distress have fueled their mobilization. They said crowds are larger and respond faster than they did last year. In recent weeks, high school students nationwide, including hundreds at schools in Tampa Bay, have walked out of class to protest ICE.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople are more focused and willing to stand up and loudly demand that they want ICE out of their cities,\u201d said Yunqing Zheng, a member of the Tampa Immigrant Rights Committee, a group that has been organizing protests outside Tampa City Hall and the University of South Florida. \u201cPeople are angry seeing people get murdered, and families get violently attacked and detained by federal agents without consequence.\u201d<\/p>\n
Recent demonstrations reflect a growing demand for action from across the political spectrum, said Silvio Jos\u00e9 Delgado, a community leader and advocate in Pinellas.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s also a collective sense of feeling indignant, knowing that what we\u2019re seeing isn\u2019t the result of a particular choice or individual incident,\u201d Delgado said.<\/p>\n
Lisette S\u00e1nchez, an immigration attorney in Tampa, said her office feels constantly in \u201cemergency mode.\u201d People are asking questions such as how to protect their assets and whether voluntary departure might be the safest option.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese weren\u2019t common questions before,\u201d S\u00e1nchez said.<\/p>\n
Lily Castro, 37, a Nicaraguan mother in Tampa and a member of two local immigration groups on WhatsApp and Instagram, told the Times that the tone of the messages, videos and photos she\u2019s been seeing is alarming.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy sister does not leave the house, and when she goes to the supermarket she looks around with worry,\u201d one user posted.<\/p>\n
\u201cI stay at home, but my husband works outside all day,\u201d another wrote. \u201cMany of us are like this. So much anxiety!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was very hard,\u201d added a person whose family recently had to discuss what to do if agents detained one of the parents. \u201cWe had to make a plan B to know how to react.\u201d<\/p>\n
In one group, three members said they would keep their children home after a series of photos and posts circulated on social media that showed what appeared to be immigration agents walking inside a school in Wimauma.<\/p>\n
They later turned out to be county inspectors.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a lot of fear, anxiety and panic,\u201d Castro said. \u201cThat is not a life.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In a Tampa WhatsApp group with nearly 300 members, alerts pile up fast, one after another. \u201cBe very…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1076,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[7204,28,276,22634,1877,1841,78001,78000,99,8573,24765,135,137,136,77999,46972],"class_list":["post-163142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-deportations","tag-florida","tag-hillsborough-county","tag-hispanic-and-latino-americans","tag-ice","tag-immigration","tag-killing-of-alex-pretti","tag-killing-of-rene-good","tag-politics","tag-social-issues","tag-society-of-the-united-states","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news","tag-united-states-department-of-homeland-security","tag-united-states-immigration-and-customs-enforcement"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=163142"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163142\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1076"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=163142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=163142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=163142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}