Over 100 people attended an immigration forum Tuesday night at Ybor City's historic Cuban Club.
The event was organized by a coalition of Democratic-led groups and livestreamed on the Hillsborough County Democratic Hispanic Caucus Facebook page.
Panelists included immigration attorneys, state representatives and community leaders.
They discussed the impacts of what they say are extreme immigration enforcement tactics under the Trump administration.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, whose district includes Tampa, spoke against mass deportation efforts.
"Over the past seven months, [it's been] egregious case after egregious case of people following the law and who are here legally who are still being detained," Castor said.
Immigration has become the bulk of the work in her office, she said.
Castor mentioned Heidy Sanchez, a Cuban mother who was separated from her 1-year-old daughter during an immigration check-in.
Sanchez had been allowed to stay in the U.S. because Cuba wasn't accepting its nationals at the time she was in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody. People like her, with no criminal history beyond their immigration status, were considered a low priority for deportation.
The administration decided to enforce her deportation order while Sanchez was working toward her green card with her husband, who is a U.S. citizen.
"Isn't it repugnant that they paint all immigrants as criminals?" Castor said, "I think their behavior is much more criminal."
ALSO READ: Deported from Tampa, Venezuelan asylum-seeker recounts time in El Salvador's mega-prison
Former Republican congressman David Jolly, who is running for governor next year as a Democrat, also spoke out.
"Immigration has been presented to the nation as an issue of criminality, and it's wrong," Jolly said.
Statistics show ICE is arresting more and more people without criminal charges or convictions.
"We must be unafraid to defend values that, at some times, are politically unpopular in certain election cycles," Jolly said. "I was part of a Republican Party that believed in a pathway to legal status or pathway to legal residency. That's all changed in the last 10 years."
Jolly also criticized the state for mandating that local law enforcement agencies participate in immigration enforcement.
Florida led the nation when it came to 287(g) agreements, which create partnerships between local officers and ICE.
The program allows local law enforcement to carry out certain immigration tasks, such as holding people suspected of being in the country illegally for federal immigration agents.
"Our sheriffs, our chiefs — they will tell you that they have grave concern that they are being asked to engage in law enforcement activity that violates the due process of individuals," Jolly said.
Panelists throughout the night voiced that violation of due process rights was a major concern.
"In immigration, you have the right to go before an immigration judge. You have the right to be told why you are going to be deprived of your liberty," said Danielle Hernandez, an immigration attorney based in Tampa.
An executive order implemented in January rolled back that process for certain immigrants without documentation.
Those who are unable to prove they've been in the U.S. for at least two years and entered the country between ports of entry – or without authorization – can be placed in expedited removal. That means they could be deported in as little as a day without an immigration court hearing or other appearance before an immigration judge.
"Anyone who came in after April of 2023 is fair game to absolutely any arrest," Hernandez said. "They can go in the court, cancel your asylum, terminate your asylum proceedings and arrest you outside."
Hernandez emphasized that coming in through the border without authorization is a civil infraction. Those who reenter without permission, however, can face criminal charges.
Immigrants are, many times, caught off guard when they're detained at their check-ins, Hernandez said.
"Cars are left outside parked, because people drive and expect to be able to leave," she said.
In February, Frengel Reyes, a Venezuelan asylum seeker living in Tampa, was detained at the Tampa ICE office while his wife waited for him in the parking lot.
Reyes was among more than 200 men sent to El Salvador's mega prison after being accused of having gang ties. He was recently released as part of a prisoner exchange between the U.S. and Venezuela.
The ACLU and Democracy Forward are challenging the administration's actions, arguing that the detainees were not given an opportunity to challenge their deportations.
Former state Sen. Jose Javier Rodriguez, who is running for attorney general in 2026, said the administration is using "cruelty and lawlessness as a tool of immigration enforcement."
"There's a reason why due process is for everyone, because if it's not for everyone, it's not for anyone," said Rodriguez.
ALSO READ: In Sarasota, a woman's family pleads for her release from ICE detention in Texas
Immigration attorney Hernando Bernal Jr. said conditions for detainees have become more chaotic. He and Hernandez said their clients have gone days or even weeks without knowing where their family member is being detained.
"They purposefully move people across the country far away from their support groups, from their family and from their attorneys," Bernal said.
Patrick Manteiga, third-generation publisher of the tri-lingual LaGaceta Newspaper, echoed their sentiments.
"This administration is doing it in the most cruel and most unusual way possible ... they want us to buy in on this harsh treatment," Manteiga said.
Manteiga said the "siloed way we obtain news" has created "two very different Americas out there and two very different opinions of immigrants."
The event was organized by a coalition of Democratic-led groups: The Hillsborough County Democratic Hispanic Caucus, The Hillsborough County Democratic Jewish Caucus, The Hillsborough County Democratic LGBTQ+ Caucus, The Hillsborough County Democratic Caribbean Caucus, The League of United Latin American Citizens and The Hillsborough Society.
Copyright 2025 WUSF 89.7