Tallahassee, FL – On Friday, May 30, more than 400 people gathered at the Florida Capitol to protest a large-scale ICE operation carried out Thursday, May 29, on a construction site in College Town, a neighborhood a few streets away from Florida State University. The emergency protest was called by the Tallahassee Immigrant Rights Alliance (TIRA).

Speakers led the crowd, which spanned the entirety of the Capital complex, in chants such as “¡Aquí estamos, y no nos vamos!” and “Say it once, say it twice! We will not put up with ICE!”

Since the 2025 legislative session, Governor Ron DeSantis has increased attacks on immigrants at the state level. State law now mandates all sheriff offices in operation of a jail sign into 287g agreements with ICE, which allows officers to train for and act as immigration agents. In April, ICE and the state of Florida conducted “Operation Tidal Wave,” a joint effort that resulted in the arrests of more than 1000 people in one single week. The raid in Tallahassee on May 29, carried out by ICE, Florida Highway Patrol and at least four other law enforcement agencies, is alleged to be the largest single day operation yet in Florida.

At the protest, Aracely Cruz, spokesperson for the Voces Unidas de Gadsden, stated, “We are here because hardworking people are being hunted down like criminals. These are not just immigrants but our neighbors and friends. What’s happening to them is nothing short of bigotry and hatred. We say: stop using immigrants as scapegoats for our government’s failures! We demand an end to the raids and the protection of families!”

Friday’s rally was not the first emergency action of its kind in Tallahassee: in April, local activists organized an emergency mobilization to the Leon County Jail in response to the arrest by ICE of Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez, a U.S. citizen.

“When we’re organized we can win – just a couple of weeks ago a U.S. citizen was detained. TIRA had an emergency action that night and that very same night, he was free,” stated Regina Joseph from the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO). “We have to be strategic, and we have to be organized, because only we are going to save each other. We must run ICE out of our town.”

Joelle Nuñez, an organizer with TIRA and emcee of the event, spoke of how local entities have a role to play in complicity with ICE, stating, “The city had the opportunity to keep ICE out of our neighborhoods ICE is coming into our communities and acting as a paramilitary force, they’re separating families and ripping them apart, and yet the city allows this collaboration with ICE to continue. DeSantis has made it so that Trump’s immigration policies are not only welcome, but he's doubling their efforts. It's the duty of anyone with a conscience and morals to stand up right now. We need to demand that our institutions do not cooperate with ICE.”

TIRA will be mobilizing to the June 11 City Commission meeting to demand local officials make a statement condemning the raid.

The protest was joined by the Tallahassee Community Action Committee, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Voces Unidas de Gadsden, Food Not Bombs, Leon County Dems Environmental Caucus, Students for a Democratic Society, and the Young Democratic Socialists of America.

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