ORLANDO, Fla. – In a video posted to Instagram Thursday, Congressman Maxwell Frost (D - FL) responded to rumors about a heavy presence of agents with the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Central Florida by saying he can confirm that the agency has deployed agents here and that ICE has made “pretty large” hotel reservations in the area.
“Please stay safe,” Rep. Frost said in a direct-to-camera video. “And remember, you have rights, no matter your immigration status.”
Frost did not say in the video how he was able to confirm that information. News 6 has reached out to a representative in Frost’s office to try to get more clarity on the claims.
In the video, Frost echoed concerns that have circulated on social media platforms over the last several days.
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“We’ve received multiple reports of heavy ICE activity in different parts of central Florida,” Frost began. “Including the University of Central Florida, Winter Garden, Altamonte Springs, and other surrounding areas.”
Frost later took questions about the matter during a news conference in Pine Hills, which he held Friday to discuss his filing of legislation to curb gun violence.
“We’re working with local partners, organizations, advocacy organizations to get more information on this. Unfortunately, ICE and DHS has been operating in the shadows. This is part of the reason why a lot of times you have to physically pull up, and it’s the reason why I’ve been twice to what they call Alligator Alcatraz, because I have constituents that are in there, and why we worked with local organizations that were suing the place to get it shut down temporarily. Now it’s back open and we’ll be back there. So you’ll see those kind of actions done here to make sure that we can hold them accountable because we don’t want these facilities in our community, but our office is also going to continue to do our constituent services, which is been flooded by the requests of immigrant families here in Central Florida who need our help,” he said.
News 6 is aware of posts on Reddit, Facebook, TikTok, and other platforms where users have claimed to have seen an increase in federal immigration agents in the region.
News 6 has not independently verified claims that ICE and/or Border Patrol are gearing up for some type of immigration enforcement operation.
Emails to representatives of the city of Orlando, Orange County, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, and the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office have not yet yielded answers as to whether immigration officials are preparing to undertake an operation.
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Last week, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that “Operation Tidal Wave,” an immigration enforcement operation launched last April in conjunction with DHS, has resulted in more than 10,000 arrests. It is not clear if claims about an increased presence of immigration agents may be related to that operation.
News 6 has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security, but we have not heard back.
The speculation emerging online has garnered the attention of state and county leaders, as well as clergy in the faith community.
“We do not want to see any replication of what’s happened in Minnesota, and Chicago, and elsewhere,” Reverand Dr. Gabriel Salguero, the senior pastor at The Gathering Place, said at a news conference at his church Thursday.
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Flanked by other clergy in the community, Salguero--who also represents the National Latino Evangelical Coalition (NaLEC)--cited the concerns he has heard from people in the area. News 6’s Mike Valente asked him if he had any concrete evidence that the presence of immigration officials has actually increased in central Florida.
“Yes, there is,” Salguero responded. “We’ve seen some actions.”
Salguero declined to provide specifics, citing privacy concerns for those who may have been or may still be affected.
“We’ve got a lot of community members who are concerned, who’ve heard rumors,” said Kelly Martinez Semrad, Orange County commissioner for District 5.
Semrad attended the news conference at the church Thursday and spoke to News 6 about the underlying concerns behind the posts online.
“It’s not just the talk online,” Semrad said. “What’s prevalent enough to get a press conference like this to occur is that in Orange County Jail, our numbers every single month are going up in terms of the amount of people who are being detained in Orange County Jail who are arriving to us without any other type of crime other than immigration.”
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