Protesters gathered around the U.S. on Saturday to speak out against the latest actions by the Trump administration, including right here in South Florida.
Martin Vidal brought a crowd to Miami’s Torch of Friendship because he said he wanted to get his elected officials’ attention.
“I call them damn near everyday, whether they listen to me. Probably not my specific congresspeople,” Vidal said.
Vidal organized what he called a “mobilization” against the latest policies by the Trump administration. He told CBS News Miami that’s the goal of the 50501 movement that’s behind these protests.
Vidal said he’s suspicious of the president’s tariff policies.
“To put ’em on and take ’em back off looks like market manipulation or a campaign move,” he said. “I have no idea.”
A part of a nationwide day of action
Organizers said this is one of 500 protests like this that happened around the country. The groups here slammed the administration’s handling of the Kilmar Abrego Garcia case.
Abrego Garcia arrived in the U.S. from El Salvador illegally in 2011. He was living in the U.S. under a protection order granted by an immigration judge in 2019. Officials in the Trump administration admitted the U.S. mistakenly deported the Maryland man to a prison in El Salvador.
The Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the U.S. government must facilitate his return, and a lower court has ordered the government to bring him back.
Vidal said if the Trump administration doesn’t follow court orders, a constitutional crisis could be coming.
“The country runs to a degree on faith. It requires good people to stand up for the rule of law,” he said. “You can’t write something down on paper and expect everyone to obey when the time comes to enforce it.”
John Carlos Oliver said he has Venezuelan immigrant friends who may lose temporary protective status (TPS) through an executive order by the president. The program protects certain immigrants from deportation back to countries in conflict or other extraordinary circumstances. A federal judge has temporarily put that order on hold.
Oliver said his friends are being treated differently lately.
“I have friends that have been racially profiled even as a U.S. citizen, just driving and going about their day and facing that harassment,” he said. “It’s unfortunate.”
Vidal said the crowds will only grow if their voices aren’t heard by their representatives.
