As U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s presence continues to increase and resulting violence continues to grow, long-time Tampa organizers are protecting local immigrants by building networks of support and resistance. The more hands these networks have, the more efficient they will be at serving those who are vulnerable. There is a role for everyone to play in this fight — if you are ready to help but are unsure how to get started, joining one of the following organizations can help you multiply your impact by doing this work alongside other dedicated defenders of our immigrant community.
Tampa Bay Immigrant Solidarity Network
TBISN was formed as a coalition between grassroots organizations in 2025 as a response to increased cases of immigrant detention at routinely scheduled court appointments. “They were doing things lawfully and still getting arrested and detained and moved to other countries,” said Franki, a key organizer for TBISN who is also an immigrant themself.
Heidy Sanchez is a Tampa woman who was married to a U.S. citizen and was in the process of getting her green card last year. ICE detained her at her regularly scheduled appointment and deported her to Cuba in April 2025, separating her from her 1-year-old daughter who was still breastfeeding. At a press conference held by TBISN in the wake of this detention, Franki said they thought it was “really powerful” when a group of Sanchez’ family gathered to show support.
“It’s a very popular sentiment that there’s nothing we can do, but it’s part of our core beliefs as organizers that people power is strong. And the more people we have on our side, the stronger we can be,” Franki told The Sapphic Sun. “At the same time, we’re also trying to show immigrants that despite the narratives and the lies going on about [them], they do have people on their side. The worst thing you can feel I think is loneliness, or that no one has your back.”
As more people volunteer in response to a national increase in ICE presence and the resulting killings of Reneé Good and Alex Pretti, TBISN is hoping to expand their efforts. Franki recognizes that change is incremental, and that progress happens through community connection. While the media and history books emphasize singular figures as the changemakers, the story of the community behind those figures is often muted, Franki said. They believe the biggest impact is made from mass movements, and every person who shows up is critical to the fight. “Having a conversation about it with someone who doesn’t know is a small step, but in the grand scheme of things, every little step works towards something greater … raising the consciousness in any capacity is a huge deal,” Franki said.
TBISN’s most urgent needs include more volunteers to participate in their “end 287(g)” campaign, organize protests for the release of detained individuals and educate the community about their rights. They also need funds to help feed immigrant families who may be afraid to go to the grocery store or to work for fear of being abducted by ICE. The best way to get involved is to attend one of their meetings; you can find the schedule via @tampabayimmigrantsolidarity on Instagram. You can also send them funds via Cash App at $TampaBayISN.
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Tampa Bay Circle of Protection
The Tampa Bay Circle of Protection is a loose coalition of organizations and individuals that support immigrants at the local ICE processing and detention facility. Ali was an organizer with Miramar’s Circle of Protection and saw the impact it made before bringing the idea to Tampa. Since the Miramar Circle of Protection started in 2017, the surrounding community is now aware of a local unmarked ICE facility, and conditions have improved for those waiting for their routine appointments as a result of their advocacy.
Tampa’s circle is present every Wednesday outside of the local facility. They provide legal resources and emotional support, as well as water, snacks, and coffee — they even offer toys for kids. While the group just started their tabling in December, they are already making an important impact by connecting immigrants with legal aid, and offering assistance to families as they realize their loved one has been abducted at a routine appointment. “The Circle is there to be there with you in that time of need,” Ali says. “You’ve heard of disappearances from ICE facilities — you can’t track them, you don’t know where they are. … It’s scary to see it happening in real time at these facilities.”
Ali hopes that the circle’s presence in Tampa will lead to improved conditions for those waiting like in Miramar, and that one day these facilities will be completely abolished. Until then, their goal is to create a presence every minute that the ICE facility is open. Currently the circle operates every Wednesday from 7 a.m.-2 p.m., with plans for expansion to more days of the week. They are looking for people to join for tabling and noted that they need more Spanish speakers who are U.S. citizens. Folks can also make baked goods to share at the table, donate funds or fundraise by selling art. If you’d like to join the circle, the best way to get started is to reach out to circleofprotection@proton.me.
Tampa Immigrant Rights Committee
The Tampa Immigrant Rights Committee (TIRC) is the local chapter of a national network of organizations called Legalization For All, with some of its oldest chapters established as early as the 1940s. While Tampa’s chapter was started just last summer, the seasoned organizers behind it have a clear vision for its future.
“Having done grassroots work for so many years, it was becoming really obvious with Trump’s election and inauguration that immigrants were going to be his primary scapegoat. … Being an immigrant myself, I thought this was important work that needed to be done,” said Yun, a key organizer for TIRC.
TIRC is working to build a sustainable community that will stand up to infringements on immigrant rights on both the local and national levels. “We’ve really seen people come out en masse in Los Angeles, Chicago, and now Minneapolis, and we want to bring that fight to Tampa,” Yun said. “We want to give people the tools to organize, … to have a grassroots immigrant rights organization that they can go to for their questions, and an organization that will be militant and on the ground responding to national events like the killing of Reneé Good and the killing of Alex Pretti.”
Yun is purposeful about developing the skills of other organizers who are willing to help carry the load. “I really put a lot of attention into helping people learn and grow new skills to organize and to be confident in their organizing, because none of us are paid to do this,” they shared. “It’s work and tasks and actions that anybody can do as long as you have the will to do it.”
One of TIRC’s main goals right now is to dissolve 287(g), an agreement under which local law enforcement agents are given immigration enforcement duties. Both Tampa’s and St. Petersburg’s police departments currently maintain voluntarily-signed 287(g) partnerships with ICE. In September 2025, the Department of Homeland Security reported that they held 1,000 such partnerships.
“A lot of people have found out about Tampa’s 287(g) agreement through our events,” Yun said. They also shared that many people come up to them asking what the agreement is and why both Tampa and St. Pete have entered into it. “I think the fact that those questions are being asked is indicative of the nature of the signing of this agreement. It was done super quietly. Personally, I couldn’t find it in any city council notes. We haven’t heard any statements from our local elected officials directly saying anything about the 287(g) agreement, and I think the local officials should answer the questions that we are being asked. They should be answering—why are we signed on to the 287(g) agreement?”
Public resistance to the 287(g) agreement is also key, Yun said. You can call and email Tampa and St. Pete officials, mayors Jane Castor and Ken Welch as well as police chiefs Lee Bercaw and Anthony Holloway, asking them to end the partnerships with ICE. “We really want folks applying direct pressure on the people who signed this agreement and the people who are letting it continue to be enforced,” said Yun.
TIRC also hosts “barrio walks,” where they pass through immigrant-dense communities to hand out “know your rights” cards, talk to community members about what to do during encounters with ICE, and also learn what people are struggling with and noticing. “[It’s so important] that we make sure our communities know their rights. … The more equipped we are with our rights the better all of us can defend ourselves against ICE.”
As we continue to see ICE presence rise and incite violence in its wake, the work to build a resistance and protect our people is key, Yun said. “We want to build a fight. No matter if it’s ICE or (Border Patrol) coming into Tampa, the city of Tampa should not take their attacks lying down. We want to be in the streets, toe-to-toe if they ever come for immigrant communities—if they ever come for any one of us in Tampa, because we’ve seen ICE attack just about anybody and everybody at this point.”
If you’re interested in joining the fight with TIRC, you can attend their general body meetings every first and third Wednesday of the month at 6 p.m. at the C. Blythe Andrew Jr. Library in Tampa. You can also sign up for their contact list or donate to them via the link in their Instagram bio @tampairc.
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This article appears in Mar. 05 – 11, 2026.