{"id":193820,"date":"2026-03-16T18:31:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T18:31:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/193820\/"},"modified":"2026-03-16T18:31:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T18:31:15","slug":"immigration-attorneys-say-tampa-mayor-should-stand-up-for-residents-in-wake-of-removal-threat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/193820\/","title":{"rendered":"Immigration attorneys say Tampa mayor should \u2018stand up\u2019 for residents in wake of removal threat"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"TampaTampa Mayor Jane Castor speaking at the State of The City in 2022 Credit: City of Tampa\/Flickr<\/a><\/p>\n

As Tampa Mayor Jane Castor faces removal, she has a chance to \u201cstand up for the people of Tampa\u201d by refusing to get rid of an alleged policy that protects victims and witnesses from immigration enforcement, local immigration lawyers say.<\/p>\n

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier sent a letter to Castor<\/a> last week demanding she end a policy that prohibits police from reporting crime victims and witnesses to immigration authorities. In doing so, he asked that Castor deviate from a policing standard that law enforcement leaders say is crucial for reducing crime.<\/p>\n

Immigration attorneys and police\u2014along with Florida Republicans who wrote the law banning sanctuary cities\u2014often agree that victims and witnesses need to be protected from immigration enforcement so they won\u2019t be deterred from reporting crimes. In absence of these protections, experts say criminals may walk free as witnesses are deported before prosecution, crimes may never be reported in the first place, and immigrants may be forced to endure abuse to avoid deportation.<\/p>\n

Tampa communications director Adam Smith told CL on Monday that revisions to TPD policy are being drafted to address Uthmeier\u2019s concerns. Rather than outright prohibiting officers from disclosing witness and victim information to ICE, Smith said it will likely mirror Florida statute and say that officers are \u201cnot required\u201d to share information if the victim or witness is \u201cnecessary to the investigation or prosecution of a crime.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

When asked who will determine if a victim or witness is considered \u201cnecessary,\u201d Smith said the final version had not been submitted, so he can only say that it will comply with state and federal laws.<\/p>\n

Immigration attorneys say Castor should \u2018stand up\u2019 for Tampa residents<\/p>\n

Legal experts have questioned Uthmeier\u2019s claim that Castor could be lawfully removed for the alleged policy. Local immigration attorneys told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that Castor should protect victims and witnesses and challenge any removal in court.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know, the threat is really not to be taken lightly by the mayor, but at the same time, she needs to\u00a0 stand up for the people of Tampa,\u201d immigration attorney Daniela Carri\u00f3n told CL. \u201cShe needs to denounce this letter of political bullying, because that\u2019s all it is. There\u2019s no legal basis to remove her from office.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carri\u00f3n also said that the impact of Castor\u2019s response could ripple out across Tampa Bay. If Castor acquiesces, other departments with victim and witness protection policies like the Hillsborough County Sheriff\u2019s Office could follow suit.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Immigration attorney Ahmad Yakzan told CL that if Castor challenges the removal, she could help set precedent for the entire state and force courts to define ambiguous language in statute, limiting the ways in which the state can use Florida statute to threaten removal.<\/p>\n

\u201c(Castor) shouldn\u2019t budge on it,\u201d Yakzan told CL about the ambiguous Florida statute. \u201cSomeone needs to test it and unfortunately, in the United States, we can\u2019t even test it without going to court.\u201d<\/p>\n

If TPD and ICE reach an agreement to share victim and witness information, Yakzan said it wouldn\u2019t make sense for most people without legal residency status to report crimes. \u201cI don\u2019t think that any witnesses or victims should come forward to (report) anything, because they will be risking deportation. And that will hamper law enforcement efforts,\u201d Yakzan told CL.<\/p>\n

Though Carri\u00f3n speculated that Castor could potentially get a preliminary injunction temporarily reversing a suspension, she said that shouldn\u2019t be Castor\u2019s deciding factor. \u201cI think the legal battle here is very interesting, but at the end of the day, \u2026 it doesn\u2019t matter. The mayor should speak for the people. The mayor\u2019s job isn\u2019t to ensure that she remains mayor. The mayor\u2019s job is to make sure she does as the people ask of her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Police experts say victims and witnesses should be protected<\/p>\n

Nashville Police Chief John Drake is the president of the Police Executive Research Forum, a group of police chiefs and sheriffs dedicated to determining best practices in policing. \u201cCrime flourishes when there\u2019s silence,\u201d Drake told the crowd<\/a> at PERF\u2019s 2025 annual meeting. \u201cIf people have been victimized by crime and they don\u2019t report it to local law enforcement, how do we help those people? What if people are raped or robbed, but they\u2019re afraid to report it because they think they\u2019re going to get deported?\u201d<\/p>\n

Even the Center for Immigration Studies\u2014an anti-immigration think tank founded by self-proclaimed eugenecist John Tanton, a man the Southern Poverty Law Center called<\/a> \u201cthe racist architect of the modern anti-immigrant movement\u201d\u2014warns against arresting victims<\/a> of crimes. They also say that the U visa program is too bogged down to be useful for most crime victims and shouldn\u2019t be relied upon.<\/p>\n

In his letter, Uthmeier suggested that police wouldn\u2019t have to worry about investigations being derailed by deportations because of \u201cprocedures in place\u201d for victims. Specifically, he referenced the U visa program, which was made to help victims of certain crimes remain in the country even if they are here unlawfully.<\/p>\n

Only 10,000 U visas may be issued per year, resulting in a notoriously slow system and a massive backlog. DHS\u2019 website says that applications from 2017 and earlier are currently being processed. Additionally, a U visa applicant is not guaranteed protection from deportation while their application is being reviewed, a process that can take 8\u201310 years. Like many immigration issues, U visa woes predate either Trump administration.<\/a><\/p>\n

Uthmeier\u2019s office did not answer questions addressing the difficulties in existing federal victim and witness relief methods.<\/p>\n

Criminal defense attorney and former state prosecutor Francesca de la Grana told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that even a policy of reporting arrestees to ICE can chill reporting of domestic violence.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can tell you that right now, every single one of my clients that gets arrested, if they do not have papers, it\u2019s an automatic ICE hold,\u201d she told CL. \u201cBack in the day, if someone was arrested for a DUI, or no valid driver\u2019s license, or really any 1st or 2nd degree misdemeanor, (they were released).\u201d<\/p>\n

If someone knows a partner or family member will be detained by ICE upon arrest, de la Grana said they are less likely to call the police even if that person becomes abusive. \u201cIt just creates a lot more work because ultimately we\u2019re not able to prosecute those cases. Because everyone\u2019s trying to protect one another, their family members.\u201d<\/p>\n

Immigrants are vulnerable to crimes of exploitation<\/p>\n

As an immigration attorney, Carri\u00f3n has witnessed the human cost of immigration enforcement first hand.<\/p>\n

Rosa Patishtan-Gomez is an indigenous Mexican woman who lawfully came to Tampa Bay on a seasonal agricultural visa where she was quickly labor trafficked by her employer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Carri\u00f3n, who provided her with pro-bono legal representation, told the San Pedro Gazette<\/a> last year that Patishtan-Gomez was forced to work up to 120 hours a week with no overtime. She was indebted to her employer and overstayed her visa. She had children in the U.S., one of whom was 11 months old and still breastfeeding.<\/p>\n

Florida Highway Patrol arrested Patishtan-Gomez anyway. She then spent at least a month in ICE detention, separated from her children, before being deported. Carri\u00f3n said she likely qualified for a T visa\u2014a visa that protects trafficking victims\u2014but she would have had to wait longer to see her children.<\/p>\n

This is a common pattern for labor traffickers. This week, a Mexican national at federal court in Tampa pleaded guilty<\/a> to human trafficking of immigrant workers who entered the U.S. on temporary agricultural visas. Once the workers arrived, their passports were confiscated to prevent them from leaving the country and they were shackled by debt. While living in unsanitary, crowded conditions, victims were forced to work long hours for criminally low pay under threat of deportation and harm to them and their families. Prosecutors relied on immigrant worker victim testimony to build their case.<\/p>\n

Carri\u00f3n told CL that language barriers and the threat of deportation often lead immigrants to fear reporting crimes. She said police bias can also play a part as many police are less likely to believe nonwhite people or people who aren\u2019t native English speakers when they say they have been victims.<\/p>\n

Immigrants on agricultural visas are also less likely to report human trafficking, Carri\u00f3n said. They are often coerced into abuse and slavery by companies taking advantage of the threat of ICE detention and deportation. Many are coerced into overstaying their visas so they will be fearful of going to the police, where they could be sent to ICE detention facilities, she told CL.<\/p>\n

Many immigrants detained in Florida are sent to the Everglades Detention Center or Krome Processing Center. At both of these locations, Amnesty International has reported<\/a> that detainees are subjected to abuse and torture. Detainees are often not allowed to contact their lawyers, preventing them from applying for a U visa or any form of lawful relief.<\/p>\n

How Castor\u2019s decision could change the U visa process for victims<\/p>\n

Speaking to CL, Carri\u00f3n outlined how the process for a U visa works when police don\u2019t question a victim\u2019s immigration status. \u201cA victim calls, reports a crime, the crime is investigated.\u201d<\/p>\n

The victim can then consult with their immigration attorney and determine if they\u2019re eligible for a U visa before contacting the police again to certify that they were a victim. Until then, the police aren\u2019t aware of the victim\u2019s immigration status and \u201ccan focus on what\u2019s important, which is investigating the alleged crime,\u201d Carri\u00f3n told CL.<\/p>\n

If police investigate the immigration status of victims and witnesses, however, Carri\u00f3n said the process could be different. \u201cVictims of crime will likely either be placed in removal proceedings or be placed in a detention center, and there will not be any ability for the Tampa Police Department to do any kind of fair investigation,\u201d she told CL.<\/p>\n

U visas also only apply to victims. \u201cWitnesses are completely deterred from speaking, because then they have no protection whatsoever,\u201d Carri\u00f3n said. \u201cThe argument goes, \u2018well, you can get their statement before they get picked up.\u2019 But at the same time, the statement is not enough to obtain a conviction.\u201d<\/p>\n

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This article appears in Mar. 12 \u2013 18, 2026<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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