Tallahassee rallies against local immigration raids

Tallahassee, FL – On January 28, about 40 members of the Tallahassee Community Action Committee (TCAC), held an emergency rally at the Leon County Courthouse to demand the city and county stop the arrest and detainment of undocumented members of the community. This emergency action was held a day after multiple confirmed sightings of ICE in Tallahassee, as well as raids in surrounding counties.

These raids come amidst Trump’s increase in anti-immigrant rhetoric and Governor Ron DeSantis’s promise for statewide crackdowns on undocumented immigrants. These increased attacks on Tallahassee’s immigrants underscore the city’s need for community control of the policing just weeks after its Citizens Police Review Board was dismantled.

Aedan Bennett, a member of TCAC, opened the rally. He stated “Tallahassee has seen a worrying increase in police presence and repression while the city has removed any avenues for the people to hold them accountable. If the city, state and federal police are allowed to militarize our communities and attack immigrants, we have to organize against that repression.”

Regina Joseph from the Freedom Road Socialist Organization stated, “Donald Trump and the billionaires want us to believe that immigrants are our enemy and causing America’s economic strain. We reject these false claims. Immigrants are our neighbors and friends. They’re just like anybody else: people who want to make a living and provide for their families. Together, immigrants and all oppressed people can end this evil system that harms us all.”

About 15 of the rally-goers stayed late into the night, around 10 p.m., to make public comment at the Leon County Commission denouncing the attacks on immigrants and demanding the city take action. TCAC and the other organizations involved in this action rallied around the slogan :Make Tallahassee a sanctuary city.” Their collective demand was for governing commissions to use their power over local police departments to deprioritize arrest and detainment of our community’s residents, especially in the wake of these new deportation efforts.

The mobilization was supported by Tallahassee Students for a Democratic Society, the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Tallahassee Food Not Bombs, and Kabataan Alliance.

#TallahasseeFL #FL #ImmigrantRights #TCAC