Community members push Tampa to end ICE cooperation
Tampa, FL – On August 20, community members spoke at a Tampa City Council meeting demanding they pass an ordinance to end ICE cooperation.
The Tampa Police Department and ICE cooperate based on a federal 287(g) agreement. A 287(g) agreement creates a formal partnership that allows ICE to deputize local law enforcement to carry out the duties of federal immigration enforcement officers.
“I have been speaking with my neighbors, with church leaders, business owners and everyday Tampa residents. There’s always one thing that keeps coming up in the conversations and it is the impact of ICE in our city and in our neighborhoods,” Erain Boxtha, a member of Tampa Immigrants Rights Committee (IRC) stated.
Boxtha continued, “We are seeing businesses lose traffic because of ICE activity in our community. Churches closing because of impacted communities. And we are seeing families torn apart and left to pick up the pieces.”
Tampa City Councilmember Bill Carlson commented on the public’s opposition to the 287(g) agreement, saying, “it was not an act of city council” and “city council is very limited in what we can do.”
The 287(g)-agreement was signed in the spring of 2025 between TPD and ICE under Tampa Mayor Jane Castor and the Tampa Police Chief Lee Bercaw. They have the power to cancel the agreement.
Tampa IRC continues the fight to end local police cooperation with ICE. They are educating the public and targeting the city council, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor, and the new police chief.
Members of the Tampa Immigrants Rights Committee, along with individuals from Indivisible Pinellas, League of Women Voters and Partido Nacionalista de Puerto Rico, all spoke on public record.