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Speakers Urge Miami Beach Commission to Back Resolution Opposing Dehumanizing Rhetoric Against Immigrants
Summary
Multiple callers at the July 23 meeting urged the commission to support Resolution C 7 Y opposing violent and dehumanizing rhetoric toward immigrants, calling such rhetoric harmful to community safety and dignity.
Public commenters at the July 23 Miami Beach City Commission meeting urged support for Resolution C 7 Y, which speakers said opposes dehumanizing and violent rhetoric targeting immigrants.
Adam Saper, an attorney with the Community Justice Project and a longtime Miami Beach resident, urged the commission to "continue to oppose the dehumanizing and violent rhetoric targeting immigrants, including the horrific idea that using the Everglades and its wildlife as weapons against their own community members." He told the commission that the rhetoric "normalizes cruelty, incites violence and racial profiling," and that local governments should act to stop what he called "human rights violations in real time in our own backyard."
Several other callers framed the resolution as a moral and public‑safety issue. Ken Barnes, a North Miami resident, said the proposal is “timely and essential,” criticized language that degrades migrants and referred to federal agencies such as ICE and Customs and Border Protection when describing detention practices. Raquel Pacheco, a Flamingo Park resident and activist, and Iris Frost also said they supported the resolution and urged broader advocacy beyond Miami Beach.
Speakers emphasized that the resolution is primarily symbolic but communicates community standards, and urged commissioners to use the city’s platform to push for humane treatment at higher levels of government. The transcript contains no formal commission vote on the resolution during the public comments recorded here.
