Security guard threatens to detain activist for filming outside ICE facility

Courtesy of Maria Asuncion Bilbao

MIRAMAR, Fla. – Immigration activist Maria Asuncion-Bilbao was walking on the sidewalk, outside of the fence of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's office in Miramar, when a security guard showed her his handcuffs and threatened to detain her. 

Asuncion-Bilbao was filming a line of migrants who were standing under the rain Tuesday. She has been documenting how ICE doesn't provide them with enough parking or shelter while they comply with check-in orders. 

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"It's raining. There are talks here about setting up tents and to treat these people as if they were animals, like our president says, animals," she says in Spanish while on Facebook Live. "Not even animals get treated this way."

Immigration activists show up regularly to support the migrants with water and coffee. Not all of the migrants who walk inside walk out. Some are detained without warning leaving their cars abandoned and prompting Miramar officials to ask ICE to get the Ohio-based contractor to improve conditions. 

 


About the Author:

The Emmy Award-winning journalist joined the Local 10 News team in 2013. She wrote for the Miami Herald for more than 9 years and won a Green Eyeshade Award.