EL TIPO DE CAMBIO DE HOY ES DE: By Rejecting ICE Cooperation, Eileen Higgins Sets Miami on a Collision Course With State and Federal Law
Mayor-elect Eileen Higgins appears determined to unwind every conservative policy implemented under Miami’s prior leadership, beginning with formal cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). True to her campaign rhetoric, Higgins is prioritizing an issue that has never been a top concern for a city like Miami, even going public with her plans before offering any serious outline for how she intends to address the housing affordability crisis – the very issue that the small sliver of voters who participated reportedly elected her to confront.
Higgins faces a steep uphill battle. She will be governing in a state with a Republican governor, a Republican-controlled legislature, and a Republican-led federal government. The question now is whether she will become Miami’s first de facto lame-duck mayor in decades – or whether she will cause lasting damage by attempting to undo years of progress in one of America’s most dynamic cities.
A Mayor Focused on Reversing Conservative Policy, Not Miami’s Real Priorities
Her ICE stance may ultimately prove more symbolic than actionable. In early 2025, Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law a statewide memorandum of agreement requiring all local and state law enforcement agencies to cooperate directly with ICE in carrying out federal immigration functions, including detaining, identifying and removing criminal illegal aliens already incarcerated or otherwise eligible for deportation.
What was billed as a nonpartisan municipal election has now become a vehicle for a nationalized Democratic agenda aimed at undermining Trump administration enforcement efforts and reversing years of unchecked illegal immigration under Biden. Voters did not signal opposition to immigration enforcement, especially not in a county that shifted sharply toward President Trump. Miami-Dade’s Latino electorate, in particular, supports strengthening lawful immigration while cracking down on dangerous criminal activity.
Miami’s Recent Brush With Cartel Violence
Miami-Dade, especially Miami and Doral, has experienced real consequences from transnational criminal migration. The Venezuelan cartel Tren de Aragua, now designated a terrorist organization, has been linked to violent crimes across the region. In the past few years, federal authorities have arrested suspected members in Miami, including a Venezuelan national charged in 2025 with illegal firearm possession after previously being released into the community following immigration detention. The U.S. Border Patrol has also reported additional Tren de Aragua arrests here. This is not a hypothetical public-safety threat – it is a real, cartel-linked criminal network already invading South Florida.
The Housing Crisis Miami Actually Elected Her to Address
Polling shows that affordability, particularly housing and insurance, is the city’s breaking point. In one October 2025 survey, 56 percent of voters said they have actively considered leaving Miami-Dade because of the cost of living.
Despite years of branding herself as a champion of “affordable housing,” cutting ribbons on projects like Magnus Brickell and showcasing rehabbed units online, Higgins has not changed the underlying reality. Miami remains one of the least affordable housing markets in the country, and residents are still being priced out.
A Low-Turnout Victory Is Not a Mandate to Dismantle ICE Cooperation
The election that delivered Higgins into office drew turnout from barely one in five registered voters, with just over 37,000 ballots cast out of roughly 174,000 registered Miami voters. Even The Washington Post acknowledged that her support surged primarily in White-majority precincts – not within Hispanic communities most affected by immigration enforcement. It is difficult to argue that a mandate exists for dismantling ICE cooperation or defying state and federal law when roughly 80 percent of the city did not participate in the election.
What a Refusal to Cooperate With ICE Really Means
Refusing to cooperate with ICE would mean discouraging Miami’s police, whether through ordinances, administrative pressure or political messaging, from complying with existing federal law requiring the transfer of criminal illegal aliens to federal custody. ICE cooperation allows Homeland Security to quickly determine immigration status, initiate removal proceedings and deport offenders who pose a threat to public safety. Higgins’s posture runs counter to that process.
Under her approach, police may be discouraged from questioning individuals about immigration status, may delay notifying federal authorities, or may refuse ICE detainer requests. In practical terms, this slows the deportation of criminal offenders and complicates coordination between federal and local agencies.
Cities that take this approach are commonly known as “sanctuary cities”, jurisdictions such as New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles. These cities prohibit officers from inquiring about immigration status and sharply restrict cooperation with ICE. Supporters claim it fosters community trust, while critics (and multiple studies) argue it shields repeat offenders and undermines national security.
The justification for sanctuary policies is that undocumented immigrants may hesitate to report crimes. But these policies also create blind spots for law enforcement and weaken the federal government’s ability to remove those who pose real danger, particularly individuals already in custody.
Can Higgins Actually Defy State and Federal Law?
Regardless of political messaging, federal law supersedes local preferences. The Supreme Court has repeatedly affirmed federal dominion over immigration enforcement, and Florida’s state government has imposed its own mandates requiring full cooperation with ICE. Higgins can posture, but she cannot erase Florida law — nor can she nullify federal statutes.
Higgins has publicly opposed Miami’s participation in the 287(g) program, arguing that police should not “be doing the job of federal immigration enforcement.” She has suggested Miami should have followed South Miami’s lawsuit against the state mandate and has stated she will attempt to limit the program’s impact. But this position places her in direct conflict with federal policy, including President Trump’s Executive Order 14287, the Protecting American Communities from Criminal Aliens Act, which requires DOJ and DHS to identify and pursue legal action against jurisdictions that obstruct federal immigration enforcement.
What Comes Next for Miami Under a New Democratic Mayor?
National outlets have framed Higgins as part of the new “Democratic resistance” to Trump, likening her to New York Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani. But Miami is not New York. Higgins now governs under unified Republican control at the state and federal levels. Even within Miami, conservatives are not powerless. The most consequential political shift this cycle may be the new Republican majority on the Miami City Commission, the body that controls budgets, land use and the levers Higgins needs to implement any meaningful agenda.
Higgins may aspire to govern like a blue-city progressive, but Miami operates under an entirely different legal and political reality. Her attempt to dismantle ICE cooperation, despite state mandates, federal law, a rising cartel presence and a housing crisis voters prioritized, puts her on a collision course with the very systems that govern the city she now leads.
Whether this becomes a symbolic gesture or a destabilizing policy fight will depend on one central question: Will Miami accept a mayor who elevates ideological resistance over safety, law and affordability – or will voters demand a leader focused on the issues they actually elected her to solve?
By Rejecting ICE Cooperation, Eileen Higgins Sets Miami on a Collision Course With State and Federal Law
Mayor-elect Eileen Higgins appears determined to unwind every conservative policy implemented under Miami’s prior leadership, beginning with formal cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). True to her campaign rhetoric, Higgins is prioritizing an issue that has never been a top concern for a city like Miami, even going public with her plans before offering any serious outline for how she intends to address the housing affordability crisis – the very issue that the small sliver of voters who participated reportedly elected her to confront.
Higgins faces a steep uphill battle. She will be governing in a state with a Republican governor, a Republican-controlled legislature, and a Republican-led federal government. The question now is whether she will become Miami’s first de facto lame-duck mayor in decades – or whether she will cause lasting damage by attempting to undo years of progress in one of America’s most dynamic cities.
A Mayor Focused on Reversing Conservative Policy, Not Miami’s Real Priorities
Her ICE stance may ultimately prove more symbolic than actionable. In early 2025, Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law a statewide memorandum of agreement requiring all local and state law enforcement agencies to cooperate directly with ICE in carrying out federal immigration functions, including detaining, identifying and removing criminal illegal aliens already incarcerated or otherwise eligible for deportation.
What was billed as a nonpartisan municipal election has now become a vehicle for a nationalized Democratic agenda aimed at undermining Trump administration enforcement efforts and reversing years of unchecked illegal immigration under Biden. Voters did not signal opposition to immigration enforcement, especially not in a county that shifted sharply toward President Trump. Miami-Dade’s Latino electorate, in particular, supports strengthening lawful immigration while cracking down on dangerous criminal activity.
Miami’s Recent Brush With Cartel Violence
Miami-Dade, especially Miami and Doral, has experienced real consequences from transnational criminal migration. The Venezuelan cartel Tren de Aragua, now designated a terrorist organization, has been linked to violent crimes across the region. In the past few years, federal authorities have arrested suspected members in Miami, including a Venezuelan national charged in 2025 with illegal firearm possession after previously being released into the community following immigration detention. The U.S. Border Patrol has also reported additional Tren de Aragua arrests here. This is not a hypothetical public-safety threat – it is a real, cartel-linked criminal network already invading South Florida.
The Housing Crisis Miami Actually Elected Her to Address
Polling shows that affordability, particularly housing and insurance, is the city’s breaking point. In one October 2025 survey, 56 percent of voters said they have actively considered leaving Miami-Dade because of the cost of living.
Despite years of branding herself as a champion of “affordable housing,” cutting ribbons on projects like Magnus Brickell and showcasing rehabbed units online, Higgins has not changed the underlying reality. Miami remains one of the least affordable housing markets in the country, and residents are still being priced out.
A Low-Turnout Victory Is Not a Mandate to Dismantle ICE Cooperation
The election that delivered Higgins into office drew turnout from barely one in five registered voters, with just over 37,000 ballots cast out of roughly 174,000 registered Miami voters. Even The Washington Post acknowledged that her support surged primarily in White-majority precincts – not within Hispanic communities most affected by immigration enforcement. It is difficult to argue that a mandate exists for dismantling ICE cooperation or defying state and federal law when roughly 80 percent of the city did not participate in the election.
What a Refusal to Cooperate With ICE Really Means
Refusing to cooperate with ICE would mean discouraging Miami’s police, whether through ordinances, administrative pressure or political messaging, from complying with existing federal law requiring the transfer of criminal illegal aliens to federal custody. ICE cooperation allows Homeland Security to quickly determine immigration status, initiate removal proceedings and deport offenders who pose a threat to public safety. Higgins’s posture runs counter to that process.
Under her approach, police may be discouraged from questioning individuals about immigration status, may delay notifying federal authorities, or may refuse ICE detainer requests. In practical terms, this slows the deportation of criminal offenders and complicates coordination between federal and local agencies.
Cities that take this approach are commonly known as “sanctuary cities”, jurisdictions such as New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles. These cities prohibit officers from inquiring about immigration status and sharply restrict cooperation with ICE. Supporters claim it fosters community trust, while critics (and multiple studies) argue it shields repeat offenders and undermines national security.
The justification for sanctuary policies is that undocumented immigrants may hesitate to report crimes. But these policies also create blind spots for law enforcement and weaken the federal government’s ability to remove those who pose real danger, particularly individuals already in custody.
Can Higgins Actually Defy State and Federal Law?
Regardless of political messaging, federal law supersedes local preferences. The Supreme Court has repeatedly affirmed federal dominion over immigration enforcement, and Florida’s state government has imposed its own mandates requiring full cooperation with ICE. Higgins can posture, but she cannot erase Florida law — nor can she nullify federal statutes.
Higgins has publicly opposed Miami’s participation in the 287(g) program, arguing that police should not “be doing the job of federal immigration enforcement.” She has suggested Miami should have followed South Miami’s lawsuit against the state mandate and has stated she will attempt to limit the program’s impact. But this position places her in direct conflict with federal policy, including President Trump’s Executive Order 14287, the Protecting American Communities from Criminal Aliens Act, which requires DOJ and DHS to identify and pursue legal action against jurisdictions that obstruct federal immigration enforcement.
What Comes Next for Miami Under a New Democratic Mayor?
National outlets have framed Higgins as part of the new “Democratic resistance” to Trump, likening her to New York Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani. But Miami is not New York. Higgins now governs under unified Republican control at the state and federal levels. Even within Miami, conservatives are not powerless. The most consequential political shift this cycle may be the new Republican majority on the Miami City Commission, the body that controls budgets, land use and the levers Higgins needs to implement any meaningful agenda.
Higgins may aspire to govern like a blue-city progressive, but Miami operates under an entirely different legal and political reality. Her attempt to dismantle ICE cooperation, despite state mandates, federal law, a rising cartel presence and a housing crisis voters prioritized, puts her on a collision course with the very systems that govern the city she now leads.
Whether this becomes a symbolic gesture or a destabilizing policy fight will depend on one central question: Will Miami accept a mayor who elevates ideological resistance over safety, law and affordability – or will voters demand a leader focused on the issues they actually elected her to solve?
