MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Fear among immigrant communities reached a fever pitch on Tuesday when Department of Homeland Security released plans to hire more than 10,000 new agents to comply with orders from President Donald Trump for more aggressive immigration enforcement.
By Wednesday, the calls began to flood into immigration law offices.
"We've noticed a lot of changes, the amount of phone calls we're receiving has increased dramatically," Adonia Simpson, an immigration attorney with Americans for Immigrant Justice said.
Simpson said they're trying to keep up.
"There's just a lot of concern and fear generally in the community," Simpson said.
The federal moves come along with a decision by Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez to hold inmates for immigration officials for up to 48 hours.
"Anybody who is charged with an offense, even a minor offense, such as driving without a license or jaywalking, if they're arrested and detained immigration could ask they be held," Simpson said.
Simpson's organization has started distributing cards to people that list out various rights and what to do if stopped by law enforcement.