Tampa, FL – Nearly 6000 people came to downtown Tampa, on Saturday October 18 as part of the No Kings day protests. The event began at the Tampa City Hall, before marching to nearby Curtis Hixon Park.

Speeches centered around ending anti-immigrant 287(g) agreement, denouncing the entirety of the Trump agenda, and continuing to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people in their struggle for liberation. Specific mention was made of 16-year-old Florida resident Mohammed Ibrahim, who has been held in Israeli dungeons for eight months now, and the demand for the U.S. to order his release. Concurring events took place all around the Tampa Bay area.

The 287(g) agreements, in place across Florida between many police departments and Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, allow for municipal police to act as immigration enforcement officers.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has threatened that those state officials who don’t cooperate may be removed from office, as he has done to two state’s attorneys whose decisions he politically disagreed with. However, dozens of Florida cities haven’t signed on to 287(g) agreements, and state law does not require them to.

When these agreements were signed on to by police agencies in the recent past, most departments discontinued them, finding it to be burdensome to act as immigration police, among other reasons. Mayors, city council, and county commissioners across the Bay area have capitulated to DeSantis and Trump by agreeing, without a fight and without protest, to enable dentitions and deportations.

“Students for a Democratic Society helped co-lead the march and rally. The student movement was there to fight back against Trump’s agenda as we stand firmly for no deportations, no ICE in our cities or campuses, and protecting immigrants,” said Allie Enriquez of Tampa Bay SDS, one of the co-emcees.

Yunqing Zheng, a member of the Tampa Immigrants Rights Committee and the other emcee of the event, stated, “Jane Castor claims that local law enforcement should not engage in ICE raids, but under the 287(g) agreement, the police effectively become ICE. Numerous mayors across the county have put their foot down against ICE, they have refused to let law enforcement sign onto 287(g), they have made a commitment to their immigrant communities and they have committed to making their cities a sanctuary city. Jane Castor has done none of that. Her words are as empty as her actions. She has been silent about 287(g) – the repression and suffering of our immigrant communities are on her hands.”

The Tampa Bay Immigrant Solidarity Network echoed this sentiment. Only one state representative, Angie Nixon, of Jacksonville, took part in the rally, having a history of working with the people’s movements in Florida.

In addition to Angie Nixon, the rally featured speakers from: Tampa Immigrants Rights Committee, Elevate Through Respect, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Party for Socialism and Liberation, Tampa Bay Immigrant Solidarity Network, Tampa Democratic Socialists of America, the Progressive Jewish Coalition, Council on American Islamic Relations, Tampa Food Not Bombs, Florida Student Power Network, and Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society.

#TampaFL #FL #ImmigrantRights #Trump #PeoplesStruggles #TBzISN

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