MIRAMAR,Fla. – American Friends Service Committee of Florida, The Florida Immigrant Coalition, and The Miramar Circle of Florida joined together for a press conference Wednesday to seek immediate action on TPS re-designation for Central American countries.
The groups came together around 9:30 a.m. at ICE-ERO Center in Miramar to highlight the plight of Central Americans, demanding that the Biden administration designate and extend temporary protective status or TPS for Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Guatemala.
Among those in attendance were impacted community members, immigrant advocates and community leaders.
Florida Immigrant Coalition member Yareliz Mendez Zamora told Local 10 News: “This is a protection that will allow people to live their lives with dignity.”
According to a press release, The Miramar Circle of Protection is a group that focuses on the well-being of people who have to go to the Miramar Ice Facility for supervision.
The group aims to expose ICE and build community resistance against the criminalization and deportation of immigrants and refugees in South Florida.
After calling the immigration system “severely flawed and devastatingly broken,” members of the coalition fear of deportation or family separation.
“Women, men and children come to their appointments and are then told that they need to be on a list,” said Zamora.
“There is a need for a humanitarian response for the situation in Central America and the response is an extension and re-designation of TPS,” said Zamora.