Outside a nondescript building in Miramar, Florida, volunteers have gathered every Wednesday for more than nine years to support immigrants reporting to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
They offer food, water and a place to sit. They also track who gets detained, help families find loved ones, and provide basic needs such as chairs and portable restrooms.
Billy Botsch, a volunteer with the Miramar Circle of Protection, said the city-based group started when local women noticed people were not always returning after appointments at the ICE field office.
“People were coming here, they were waiting in long lines, and then some of them were not coming out,” Botsch said. “They were being detained and then put into detention, which was a big shift, and a lot of people didn't even realize this building was here. So they decided they would come out here every week and provide food.”
The Circle of Protection has continued its work through three presidential administrations. Botsch said many people drive hours from Florida’s west coast or distant cities such as Jupiter just to make their appointments.
Maria Bilbao, Florida campaign coordinator for the American Friends Service Committee, warns immigrants in Spanish about Florida agreements that allow police to work with ICE.
“Police and troopers, the highway patrol, are detaining people during traffic stops,” Bilbao said, according to an English translation. “So they need to be very, very careful on the street.”
The 287(g) program allows local law enforcement to act as immigration agents. Gov. Ron DeSantis held a news conference at the Miramar ICE facility last month celebrating expanded detention and deportation efforts with state police.
The American Friends Service Committee is documenting abandoned cars left by people who came for routine appointments and were detained — a practice volunteers describe as people being “disappeared.”
Botsch said other groups have come and gone over the years, but the Circle of Protection is not going anywhere. The group hopes to expand with help from more volunteers.
“So we're always hoping that more people are interested,” Botsch said. “If we could be here five days a week, that would be wonderful, but that takes a lot of manpower, and so we're hoping to do what we can as long as we can.”
The Circle of Protection originally started with women who came from Cuba in the 1960s, Bolivia and Argentina. Some still volunteer today.
The group meets every Wednesday from 8 a.m. to noon outside the ICE field office in Miramar.
Source: Public News Service
