Florida immigrants are not afraid to enter “hurricane shelters”

Florida is the center of hurricanes in the United States, as about half of the hurricanes that reach the country strike the peninsula between the warm water of the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean, and most of them are monitored in advance, and mostly the state issues the evacuation orders for millions of people, yet there is a long history of hurricane -related deaths. Tamba, causing the death of 12 people.

Last year, Hurricane “Helen” did the same, and state officials and local governments spent millions of dollars on tight emergency plans, including information, shelters, supplies and rescue operations for the Atlantic season, which takes place from the first from June to November 30, but with the increasing activity of hurricanes this season, activists supporting immigration fears that many not documented people will avoid searching for Shelter, for fear of the authorities, given the anti -immigration campaign in Florida led by Governor Ron Desantis, with the support of President Donald Trump.

“The level of fear that people feel may lead them to risk their lives just to avoid arrest and deportation.”

She added that the organization has been trying for years to persuade people to search for shelter, in the event of a hurricane, but their fear has become so severe that many fear even in public places.

In previous years, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services Department published notifications stating that immigration raids will not be carried out in hurricane shelters.

The organization used those ads to encourage people to go to the shelters, but now “we do not know whether this administration will do the same, and even if they say this, people will not trust them,” Betit said.

For years, the Immigration and customs law enforcement department maintained a policy of avoiding raids in the so -called “sensitive” sites, such as schools, hospitals and hurricane shelters, but in January 2025, after Trump returned to the White House, the administration canceled that memo, a step that was stabbed since then in court, and the department did not respond to requests to comment on the enforcement of immigration laws in hurricanes or near them during Emergency cases, as the Ministry of Internal Security refused to comment.

The lack of confidence in the authorities has always been present in migrant societies, and in 2018 before Hurricane Irma, Senator, Marco Rubio, stated that farmer workers in the center of Florida are afraid of evacuation, but they should not be afraid to search for shelter.

But in recent months, hundreds of thousands of immigrants have suddenly put their legal status, after the Trump administration has canceled humanitarian programs and temporary protection for citizens of several countries.

Many live in southern Florida, where temporary homes are one of the few housing options at reasonable prices for low -income immigrants, including those with Spanish origin and in addition to the Haitians, according to research groups, and these homes are particularly vulnerable to hurricanes, and studies indicate that only half of its population will be evacuated to public shelters.

Large areas of Miami Dead province, especially coastal societies or those close to the channels, are classified as “dangerous areas due to floods” that require evacuation. Many temporary homes are located in these areas.

The emergency department department in Miami Dead, is in the process of establishing temporary shelters in schools and other concrete buildings, as it provides beds, mobile toilets and electrical generators to accommodate thousands of people. On the “Guardian”

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The risk of life

Jose Ernesto, a former paramedic worked for rescue efforts in the mobile homes in the “Florida Keys” islands south of Miami, said that the authorities cannot force people to evacuate, and many choose to stay in their homes and know that they are dangerous to their lives, however, the former paramedic – who asked not to mention his full name, realized that he is not authorized to talk about disaster procedures – that people do not They want to go to the shelter »for fear of immigration employees. While the authorities cannot “distinguish against anyone, because it is a matter of life or death,” the paramedic adds: “When someone enters these places, he does not know how to get out of it, and this is the problem.”

• For years, the enforcement of immigration laws have maintained raids in “sensitive” sites, such as schools, hospitals and shelters.