ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Amid nationwide protests on May Day Thursday, dozens of demonstrators descended on the Orange County jail, decrying immigration policies under President Donald Trump’s administration.
Calling the jail a “hub” for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Felipe Sousa-Lazaballet suggested Orange County leaders are complicit in the federal government’s apprehension of undocumented immigrants.
“What we want is for Orange County to stop facilitating the deportation machine by ending any agreement that creates a situation where they become a hub for our region,” said Sousa-Lazabellet, the executive director of Hope CommUnity Center.
Sousa-Lazaballet, who is running for a seat in Florida’s State House, argued that the county is getting “ripped off” by the federal government.
In a commission workshop late last month, Orange County corrections chief, Louis Quinones Jr. noted that it costs $145 per day to house an inmate. He said the federal government was reimbursing the county for $88 per day.
Despite the partial reimbursement, Sousa-Lazabellet suggested that the spike in ICE detentions at the jail will result in the price tag rising.
“We want that money to actually go towards housing, education, other things that are critical and necessary in our community,” he said.
A spokesperson for the county corrections’ office confirmed Thursday that through the first four months of 2025, there have been 1,018 bookings in the Orange County Jail of people with ICE detainers.
There were 1,016 bookings of people with ICE detainers during the entire year of 2024.
“One thousand-eighteen (1,018) is not just a statistic,” Sousa-Lazabellet said. “Those are people. Those are sisters. Those are brothers, workers, our colleagues. They’re our neighbors. They are more than just a number. They’re real people. That’s what it’s telling me. It’s telling me that the suffering in our community is only getting worse.”
Protesters also took aim at the recently ratified 287(g) agreement reached between the county and ICE.
County commissioners approved the agreement in March by a vote of 5-2. The type of 287(g) program model adopted by the county allows ICE to authorize local corrections officers to serve and execute administrative warrants on undocumented immigrants in the jail.
A recently enacted state immigration law requires local government entities to cooperate with federal immigration efforts. In explaining their affirmative votes, county commissioners argued the law left their hands tied.