Miami police say they won’t enforce immigration law, truckers push boycott

May 16, 2023

Shannon Longworth Anchor/Reporter

By Shannon Longworth (Anchor/Reporter), Ben Burke (Producer)

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Ahead of Florida’s new immigration law taking effect in July, local police and truckers have begun weighing in on the issue. In part, the law makes it a felony to “knowingly and willfully” transport an undocumented person in the state of Florida.

Miami-Dade County Police announced its officers do not plan on pulling over cars in order to check the paperwork of drivers or passengers. Police will also not ask victims of a crime for information about their immigration status.

Álvaro Zabaleta, a Miami-Dade County Police detective, said Police Chief Alfredo “Freddy” Ramirez III, who is running for sheriff in 2024, “does not want to lose the trust of our community.”

“We are here to protect our community,” Zabaleta said. “We are not here to get involved in a political issue or a sensitive issue such as immigration.”

The Miami-Dade County Police announcement came as U.S. truckers are calling to boycott Florida over the immigration law. The law requires employers to verify if workers are authorized to work in the United States.

Latino truckers took to social media over the weekend, threatening to stop delivering to, from and within Florida.

“I don’t know about you guys, but my truck will not be going to Florida at all,” one trucker posted to TikTok. “I’m pretty sure we can all come together as a Latino community and boycott Florida as a whole because what they are doing to our brothers and sisters out there is not fair. And even in the truck driving industry, we’re millions.”

According to the Migration Policy Institute, about 21% of Florida’s population is foreign-born.

The immigration law could have a widespread effect on the state’s farming industry. About 300,000 farm workers, or about 60% of the state’s farm workers, live in the state illegally.

Tags: Florida, Immigration, Miami, TikTok

Florida’s new immigration law — which in part makes it a felony to “knowingly and willfully” transport an undocumented person in the state of Florida — takes effect in July.

But already — we’re starting to see pushback from local officials.

Miami-Dade County police has announced officers do not plan on pulling over cars in order to check the paperwork of drivers or passengers.

Police will also not ask victims of a crime for information about their immigration status.

A Miami-Dade police detective said the county police chief doesn’t want to lose the trust of the community.

Quote — “We are here to protect our community… We are not here to get involved in a political issue or a sensitive issue such as immigration.”

Meanwhile — there’s a growing call to boycott Florida coming from the trucking industry.

The new law also requires employers to verify if workers are authorized to work in the United States.

Over the weekend — Latino drivers took to social media — threatening to stop delivering to and within Florida.

“I don’t know about you guys, but my truck will not be going to Florida at all. I’m pretty sure we can all come together as a Latino community and boycott Florida as a whole because what they are doing to our brothers and sisters out there is not fair. And even in the truck driving industry, we’re millions.”

According to the Migration Policy Institute — about 21 percent of Florida’s population is foreign-born.

The law could have a widespread effect on the state’s farming industry — with about 300-thousand farm workers — or about 60 percent of the state’s farm workers — living in the state illegally.