The Manatee Tiger Bay Club hosted a one-hour panel discussion on immigration issues Thursday at the Manatee Performing Arts Center.
Speakers, who included attorneys and immigration advocates, shared their thoughts on state and federal immigration policies.
Sarasota-based immigration lawyer Miluska Zavala-More told the audience that she is witnessing more clients being detained.
"The level of their encounters with law enforcement are completely detached from the real powers of an agency," said Zavala-More. "It's above anything I've ever seen, not only as a U.S. citizen, but as a resident of the community that trusts law enforcement to protect us."
Luis Castro, also an immigration lawyer, said he's seeing the same.
"I probably get about five to eight calls a week saying, 'my brother, my family member, my so-and-so was stopped, and they don't have a license, and they've been detained, and now there's an ICE [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] hold,'" said Castro.
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Under the 287(g) program, local law enforcement agencies can carry out ICE detainers, which involve keeping someone suspected of being in the country illegally in custody for 48 hours until ICE agents arrive.
Florida leads the nation when it comes to the number of law enforcement agencies participating in the program.
"I get it, driving in Florida without a license is a crime, but it shouldn't be something that you're targeted for based on the color of your skin," said Castro.
"If you talk to any family really anywhere in the world, but particularly right now in China ... the dream for that family has been to save enough money to send that child to the United States. That is shifting dramatically."
Immigrant advocates warned that the 287(g) program would lead to racial profiling — which the Department of Justice and researchers found happened years ago.
"They're heartbreaking stories because a lot of the time they're just going to work, you know, they're trying to provide for their families," said Castro.
Liv Coleman, a professor of political science at the University of Tampa, asked panelists what they thought about the impacts of immigration policies on higher education.
Coleman pointed out that international students who come to the U.S. on visas contribute about $40 billion to the economy.
"I worry about this on a number of levels, and whether they be DACA or 'Dreamers,' or whether they're coming over on visas," said Coleman, "What are you seeing in your communities?"
Kelly Kirschner, the dean of executive and special programs at Eckerd College, pointed to the potential loss of international students.
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"If you talk to any family really anywhere in the world, but particularly right now in China ... the dream for that family has been to save enough money to send that child to the United States," said Kirschner. "That is shifting dramatically."
In recent months, more than 1,500 international students had their visas canceled, though the Department of Justice said they plan to restore many of those.
Under the Trump administration, immigration agents have also detained and threatened to deport students on visas whom they say had involvement in pro-Palestinian protests.
Kirschner also pointed to a new state law that now bars "Dreamers" from accessing in-state tuition. The term refers to people who were brought to the U.S. as children without legal documentation, some of whom have temporary protection under the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
"The child had no intention to break the law. They go through the school system. Many of these young people don't even have a memory of the country where they were born [in]. For all intents and purposes, there are citizens of the state of Florida," said Kirschner, who also chairs the college access group UnidosNow.
Toward the end of the program, an audience member criticized the Tiger Bay Club for not having panelists who represent both sides of the immigration debate.
The panel moderator said that they did invite people with more diverse viewpoints, but that they had declined.
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