New data show increased detentions made by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, or ICE.
On Thursday, Rev. Dr. Gabriel Salguero, the leader of the Gathering Place, an Evangelical Latino congregation in Orlando, said he’s also hearing from his members and other Chaplains that there’s a heavier presence of ICF in communities, along with arrests.
“Detentions have risen,” he said. “(Chaplains) have said, many of those people are immigrants.”
Salguero was joined by a room full of faith leaders from Central Florida, advocating for the safety of immigrants in their communities.
“We call for due process. The human and civil rights of immigrants should be respected. We believe in their human and civil rights. They should do all things with due process,” he said.
The impact of more ICE arrests can best be seen at the Orange County Corrections Department. According to a new report, the average daily population of inmates arrested by ICE without any other local charge, or arrested by another agency, increased by 930% from Dec. 2024 to the end of 2025.
Arrests have increased recently as well, with a 33% increase from November to December.
“They are not criminals. They have not committed a crime other than they got entangled in a very broken immigration system, and they are coming in and being booked into Orange County jail,” said District 1 Commissioner Nicole Wilson, who was present at the Thursday press conference.
Commissioner Wilson noted the uptick in arrests and also repeat bookings made.
“These repeat bookings occur when an inmate is held for 72 hours, transferred to ICE custody, and subsequently returned, because they get to restart that 72-hour hold. So we're essentially being used as a detention facility,” she said.
On Thursday, Democratic Congressman Maxwell Alejandro Frost posted on social media about reports of increased ICE activity in parts of Orange County, urging residents to remember their rights.
“We’ve also received reports of heavy ice activity at certain hotels in the area, as well,” Frost said. “They have made pretty large hotel reservations in surrounding hotels, as well.”
Central Florida Public Media has not independently verified those claims.
During the gathering on Thursday, Salguero stated that his church has provided information in both English and Spanish on how to respond if there is an immigration action in a sensitive location. He is also advocating for peaceful protests against current ICE policies.
“We do not want to see any replication of what's happened in Minnesota and Chicago and elsewhere,” he said. “For pastors, life is sacred. That means the life of immigrants. The life of law enforcement, but also the quality of life of our community.”
Pastor Sarah Robinson leads the Audubon Park Covenant Church and joined Rev. Salguero and other leaders on Thursday.
“Stepping up and saying loud and clear and definitively, ‘we evangelicals, we see what's going on, and it's not okay.’ That's a really big deal,” she said.
According to the Pew Research Center, most white evangelicals (72%) said they approved of how President Donald Trump was handling his job during the first few months of his presidency.
Salguero acknowledged that there is a narrative painted around Evangelicals, suggesting they approve of ICE operations.
“These policies do not reflect our deepest moral values,” he said. “Maybe we can help change the narrative that Evangelicals support this indiscriminateaction. We do not.”
