Miami’s Democratic mayor attacked in ads by immigration-advocacy group

Miami-Dade County admin August 22, 2026 0 Comments

Miami’s Democratic mayor attacked in ads by immigration-advocacy group

Two billboards will go up Monday urging Miami’s Democratic mayor and members of the Miami City Commission to back out of the city’s agreement partnering local police with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The billboards, part of a campaign launched by the Florida Immigrant Coalition, will be visible from I-95 at Northwest 62nd Street and from Southwest 17th Avenue and First Street in Little Havana, according to the group. The campaign also includes a Spanish-language radio advertisement dubbed “Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing,” which criticizes Mayor Eileen Higgins for not pushing harder to end the partnership.

“Miami cannot claim to be a welcoming city while its police department maintains an agreement that facilitates collaboration with ICE,” said Thomas Kennedy, a spokesperson for the Florida Immigrant Coalition. “With Venezuelan and Haitian TPS holders facing the loss of their protections, the stakes could not be higher.

Higgins was not yet mayor last summer when the City Commission entered into the 287(g) agreement that teamed up Miami police with ICE to carry out certain immigration-enforcement duties. She criticized the pact on the campaign trail and said during a press conference the day after the election that, while she wasn’t clear the city could pull out of the agreement, she would “minimize any involvement.”

“There is no reason in the City of Miami that our police department should be in the job of federal immigration enforcement,” she said.

Now, without a vote on the five-member City Commission, Higgins says it’s up to the commissioners to take up the issue. Three of the five said in June that they would be willing to exit the agreement, so long as it can be done legally.

“Since my campaign and when I took office, I made clear to the community that we must treat all residents humanely and with dignity, which is why I said the city should revisit the 287g agreement,” Higgins said Saturday in a statement. “Since then the commission held a discussion at the end of June, and I look forward to a legislative item hitting my desk so I can sign it swiftly.”

The ads are part of a building pressure campaign against Higgins, whose December election to City Hall was heralded as a victory for progressives. Though the position is nonpartisan, she was backed by the Democratic National Committee, and defeated Trump-endorsed Emilio González, making her the city’s first Democratic mayor in decades.

During a press conference outside City Hall earlier this month, State Rep. Angie Nixon, who won the Democratic Party’s nomination for U.S. Senate this week, specifically called on Higgins to end the city’s agreement with ICE, saying, “this is not just about Republicans.”

“We need to pay attention, because there are some Democrats who need to have the political courage to stand up and do the right thing,” Nixon said. “And so I am asking Mayor Higgins and all of the city council members to end this agreement and start allowing people to be healthy, to be prosperous and safe.”

Higgins joined the mayors of Boston, Cincinnati and Kansas City, Missouri, in amicus briefs filed with the Supreme Court earlier this year opposing the termination of Temporary Protected Status for Haitians. One brief filed in March warned that the Miami metropolitan area “would be particularly hard-hit if TPS is terminated for Haitian nationals,” citing an estimate that 90,000 Haitian TPS holders lived in the area.

Miami’s city manager said in June that there were just two Miami police officers trained under the 287(g) program.

But critics say 287(g) agreements erode trust between immigrant communities and local police, potentially making residents less likely to report crimes or cooperate with law enforcement. The Florida Immigration Coalition argues that Miami should prioritize its police resources for public safety rather than assisting the federal government with immigration enforcement.

“Miami’s immigrant communities should not have to choose between calling the police and protecting their families from immigration consequences,” Kennedy said. “Rescinding 287(g) would send a clear message that Miami police are here to protect everyone who lives in this city.”