POMPANO BEACH, Fla. – A coalition of immigration rights organizations and elected officials rallied outside the Broward Transitional Center on Saturday, calling for expanded protections for immigrants and an end to deportation policies that they say dehumanize working families.
“We are here as a united voice fighting for immigrants,” one demonstrator shouted, as others joined in chants of “Show me what democracy looks like – this is what democracy looks like.”
The rally drew attention to the treatment of detainees inside the center and across the immigration system.
“Who are our immigrant? We’re here. Look at our faces, we are members of Congress, elected officials, hard working people,” said Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick during the demonstration.
Speakers at the event criticized what they described as the inhumane treatment of loved ones.
“Our friends and family members are being dehumanized and treated as if they’re animals,” one speaker said.
The demonstrators also urged the Biden administration to expand Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, for Haitians and other vulnerable populations.
A recent effort by the Trump administration to terminate TPS protections for Haitians — claiming improved conditions in the country — was blocked by a federal judge. Had the plan gone forward, more than 500,000 people would have been affected.
“Now more than ever, we must be loud, bold, strategic, persistent, and brave,” one speaker told the crowd.
The rally came as Florida’s controversial state-funded detention facility — nicknamed “Alligator Alcatraz”— opened deep in the Everglades. The remote facility was designed to serve as a centralized location for processing and deporting detainees via an on-site airstrip.
“I need people to understand what is going on. This is not what we are supposed to be doing,” said State Rep. Dotie Joseph, speaking against the facility and current deportation practices.
At the Pompano Beach rally, organizers called for an end to deportations targeting working-class immigrants and the lifting of travel bans against several Caribbean nations.
“We will fight until the very end,” one participant said.
