By Kiara Velez, Contributing Correspondent, and Isabel LeCompte, Interning Photographer with The Apopka Voice
Click for audio of article
For decades, Apopka thrived as a farming community built to a large extent on immigrant labor. Its roots are blue-collar and agriculture-based. And with The Farmworker Association of Florida headquartered here, nearly 30% of residents are Hispanic.
But now, with recent changes to federal and state laws, there has been an increase in hostility towards immigrants in the community, as well as concerning Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids used to enforce new rules.
Florida’s Senate Bill 1718 criminalizes transporting undocumented immigrants and forces local police to cooperate with ICE when pulling over a vehicle.
According to the Department of Labor, the H-2A visa program enables U.S. agricultural employers to hire foreign workers for temporary or seasonal farm jobs when sufficient domestic labor is unavailable. However, recent changes and proposed regulations in the program have raised concerns among growers and nursery operators, who say these shifts could disrupt their workforce and threaten local agricultural operations.
At a recent ‘Know Your Rights’ meeting on March 6th aimed at informing community members, Hope CommUnity Center hosted the voices of the confused, afraid, and angry people.
"This goes against the very vision of this country,” said José Luis Marantes, Chief Impact Officer at Hope CommUnity Center in Apopka.
Gesturing to a whiteboard at the back of the room—written are the names and countries of origin of attendees—Marantes made his point known:
"Look at this board. What we're seeing here are human beings from across the world. In this room. This isn't just about immigrants—it's about all of us."
Hope CommUnity Center
Marantes stated families have been avoiding public spaces, children are being kept from school, and reports of racial profiling, such as Spanish speakers being harassed in stores.
“Apopka has always been a community historically of farmworkers and immigrants,” Marantes said. “I think my biggest concern is that there is a kind of fear, a fear that we can not let overtake us, and is bringing alertness of making sure our Constitution and our rights are being protected”.
Speakers at the ‘Know Your Rights’ meeting responded to questions and fears brought up by members, with the most pressing topic explaining to parents the sad reality of ICE targeting previously "sensitive locations" like schools and hospitals—a protection revoked under President Donald Trump's administration, creating another problem for families.
"Know your Rights" at Hope CommUnity Center
“For many years there were rules that gave protection to places like schools, places of worship, hospitals, where ICE essentially said ‘we’re not gonna go in there because it’s a sensitive place’,” said Giselle Martinez, Legal Director for Orlando Center for Justice, and speaker at Hope CommUnity Center. “That’s one of the first things the Trump administration got rid of, and now ICE is going to enforce action in those places”.
Martinez added that under current policies, schools and other sensitive locations cannot deny ICE access to question children, leaving parents in a terrible legal limbo.
"Know Your Rights" at Hope CommUnity Center
The rollback of these protections mirrored other aggressive policies targeting immigrants, including The Trump Administration’s mass deportations to Central American countries like El Salvador—a nation with a history of struggling with gang violence and economic instability. The pressing concern is the apparent deportation business model happening between Trump and President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador.
In the 1980’s a Civil War broke out in El Salvador, with guerilla groups targeting young boys to recruit for their army — a legacy of violence that continues to shape the country’s harsh security policies today.
Under Bukele’s "state of exception" policies, over 71,000 people have been imprisoned since 2022. A recent case showed 238 migrants deported to Salvadoran prison, and an overwhelming majority had no apparent criminal convictions or even criminal charges. These El Salvadoran policies are based on criteria like tattoos or "looking like a gangster." Deportees from the U.S. face immediate targeting under these measures—stripped of due process from both countries.
Mural of President Trump on FL Turnpike
Renee Gomez, Civic Engagement Coordinator with The Farmworker Association of Florida, also points out the economic turmoil these policies create in the community.
“It’s the biggest known secret that undocumented immigrants are in the labor force, right? Think about mass deportations. Small towns like Apopka rely on immigrant spending. Every purchase pays sales tax. Many pay income tax. Some pay property tax. Lose them, lose that money. Businesses lose customers. Jobs go unfilled. Who replaces that workforce? Who replaces that revenue? Nobody’s thinking about the economic damage either. That’s what pisses me off,” said Gomez.
Gomez’s warnings are not just theoretical. The economic downfall has been noticed in Apopka, with small businesses, especially Latino-owned grocery stores, and bakeries in Apopka are already feeling the impact as customers decide to stay home.
Jefferson Casillas, a manager at the Mexican ‘El Mejor Sabor Bakery & Restaurant’ in Apopka, explained his perspective on how they’ve been experiencing drops in sales and customers due to growing fears and racial tensions.
"After the administration started, we saw a huge drop in sales—people were scared to come in. Some even called asking, ‘Is it true there’s Border Patrol and ICE?’ They wanted to check for safety first,” he said. “I’ve had workers scared to come in to work for fear, even if they’re here legally. They’re scared because we’re Hispanic and they’ve been racially profiled- it’s happened before. It’s gotten better, but it’s still a worry”.
El Mejor Sabor Bakery & Restaurant
Recent state laws—like HB 1617 and SB 1718 passed in 2023– hurt families personally. The related SB 1718 policy states it 'imposes third-degree felony charges on drivers who knowingly transport someone who entered the U.S. unlawfully without federal inspection' - a provision critics say could ensnare family members or coworkers close to immigrants.
While the policy required local police departments to cooperate with ICE (Section5), it does not mandate felony charges for passengers during routine stops.
Renee Gomez, Civic Engagement Coordinator with The Farmworker’s Association of Florida.
Gomez is from Mexico and was an undocumented immigrant until he received full legal citizenship at 17. He expressed another familiar issue of ‘mixed’ legality families, and how new Florida legislative changes continue to add strain on immigrant families for basic health and needs, like being able to take family members to the hospital or kids to school.
Mixed-status families are immigrants where older generations or unknowingly newer generations are undocumented, while other family members hold legal citizenship. Gomez noted that ICE's growing presence in Apopka has strained community relations, citing a Special Sessions meeting where the Orange County Sheriff’s Office signed an agreement mandating cooperation with ICE
Despite the fear of the new Florida Legislatures, local Apopka advocacy groups continue to fight back and push against injustice in their community.
‘Know Your Rights’ cards have been distributed to inform immigrants and supporters, with the Farmworkers’ Association in Apopka already sending out over 2,000 cards in the community since January 2025.
Protest for the protection of immigrants held on March 4, 2025.
“We made sure one side is Spanish language and one side English with the three main laws: 1) Don’t open the door without a warrant, 2) Don’t sign anything without a lawyer and 3) Don’t answer questions”, said Gomez.
In the shadow of Florida’s harsh immigration laws, the organization has partnered with 20 businesses to create a rapid response web of protection, where businesses and community members collaborate. For example, when rumors about ICE activity circulated in Apopka, the network quickly messaged local business owners to verify information, helping prevent unnecessary loss.
The Farmworker’s Association in Apopka has expanded its reach to over 90 members in the network from Apopka, Ocoee, Sanford, and Orlando. A single text chain verifies sightings within minutes—allowing parents to avoid checkpoints, workers to stay home, and employers to temporarily shutter job sites.
Dewer Nurseries in Apopka
The Farmworker’s Association is also working with training staff members and volunteers to become notaries in response to the growing demand for power of attorney documents, which allow individuals to designate someone to manage their affairs if deported.
A common misconception often quoted is that those being deported are ‘illegal’ immigrants, when VISA and other temporary work or student forms still exist. An estimated 42% of the approximately 11 million unauthorized population currently living in the United States entered the country legally but overstayed their period of admission.
While organizations in the past have typically assisted undocumented individuals directly, this year, they received warnings about safety risks and adjusted their approach accordingly.
"We share these heartbreaking stories—these real human impacts—but it doesn’t seem to matter. Fine. Let’s talk economics then: We pay taxes. We make up nearly half of farmworkers. Still ignored. So here’s the truth: If you don’t care about immigrants, at least think about your community. Every vegetable you eat, every roof over your head—immigrants built that. You benefit from our labor every day. It’s time that respect followed,” said Gomez.
Construction workers at Bronson Peak
Meanwhile, the Founder of Hope CommUnity Center in Apopka Sister Ann Kendrick lamented that this is the "worst political climate ever" for immigrants, citing misinformation and rising xenophobia as the culprits.
“They’re using fear," she said. "Now they threaten to revoke nonprofit 501(c)(3) status for those who resist. Lose that, and you lose benefits. Costs go up. Protections disappear. Our whole building—even up north—had to be upgraded. Doors are now bulletproof. Yes, it was that urgent."
The 501(c)(3) status for nonprofit organizations affects the organization financially, removing their tax-exempt status.
Kendrick explained that Hope is in the process of educating the community about the limits of the threats.
“A lot are afraid that ICE could just come in, but we would not let them in. It’s private property, and we own the buildings, and we are teaching people not to keep them out but know who they are if they see them, we don’t want some outlier to get in and have some violence happen."
Outside of Hope CommUnity Center
Unfortunately, the 501(c)(3) status for nonprofit organizations is not just for organizations that collaborate with undocumented individuals or families, other non-profits are being affected.
Second Harvest Food Bank of Central is the region’s largest emergency food provider, distributing food and grocery products to more than 870 local community partners across Orange, Osceola, Seminole, Lake, Marion, Brevard, and Volusia Counties. Second Harvest is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, and to be a partner feeding program for collaboration, they require other organizations to have that designation as well.
Greg Higgerson is the Chief Development Officer with Second Harvest and confirmed 17 feeding partner distribution locations in the Apopka area, which you can find here through the ‘Food Locator’.
The ‘Food Locator’ allows Second Harvest to track the need for food assistance locally online. It allows anyone to log on and type in a zip code, and the system populates a list of nearest community feeding partners.
"Second Harvest is not involved in obtaining or revoking the nonprofit status of any partner agency—each operates independently," said Higgerson. "While our Food Finder tool shows a dip in searches this year, it’s still a critical resource for neighbors seeking help for the first time or in a new area. Another metric is that we’re now distributing enough food for 300,000 meals a day—matching pandemic-level demand and double what we provided before COVID."
José Luis Marantes, the Chief Impact Officer at Hope Apopka, understands the constraints on local government to push back on state and federal laws, but he would like to see elected officials state their support for immigrants.
“While their (local Apopka government) hands may be tied to policies, they do not have to be tied when it comes to standing with the community and constituents,” said Marantes. “Right now, we are looking for leadership and leaders who are going to stand on the side of morality and justice. Even if it doesn’t have an impact on policy it has an impact on the people”.
Poster at The Farmworker’s Association of Florida.
Video version of article
Photos by Isabel LeCompte (@isasbel.lecompte), interning photographer for The Apopka Voice. Isabel also contributed to this report.
“H-2a visa regulations threaten the legal flow of farm laborers” we were a little confused on that because H-2A visa in itself is a legal program but it does effect the current makeup of the workforce for farmworkers. Regarding our KYR cards, while it does state people’s rights it doesn’t actually have information about our trainings or other resources on the card so just wanted to clarify that. Lastly, SB 1718 doesn’t force local police to collaborate with ICE, that is a new law that just passed titled Sb 4c. Overall we were really pleased with the article and appreciate your hard work but I just wanted to notify you of those points from the first article published about immigration a few days ago
