Doral business owners, residents urge city to end ICE agreement as mayor pledges to follow law

Business owners, residents, and activists are urging Doral officials to end the city's immigration enforcement agreement with ICE, saying fear of arrests is keeping customers away and threatening local businesses.

Mayor Christi Fraga said the city will follow the law and maintained that Doral police have not participated in ICE operations.

For Eleazar Guevara, owner of La Sabrosita Parrilla & Grill, the financial pressure is becoming unbearable.

"I'm about to lose my business," he told CBS News Miami.

The Latin American steakhouse operates on the terrace of the Wingate by Wyndham hotel in Doral. Guevara shared a video from Aug. 29 showing what he said were about 150 people at his restaurant. Another video, recorded roughly a month later, showed an empty dining area.

He said the restaurant now receives no more than 10 customers a day – when it's open from Thursday to Sunday— and estimated that business has dropped by about 80%. He attributes the decline to immigration arrests in Doral, which he says have left customers afraid to go out.

On Wednesday morning, residents, activists, and business owners gathered outside Doral City Hall to demand that officials rescind the city's 287(g) agreement with ICE. The agreement allows Doral police to cooperate with federal immigration authorities.

"We are here today to ask the people behind us, the leaders of the city, to rescind that agreement," said Doral resident Luz Rebeca Alarcon.

Jeannette Infante, an attorney with the Southern Poverty Law Center, disputed the assertion that Florida law requires the city to enter into the agreement.

"The city of Doral is not required to enter into a 287(g) agreement with ICE under Florida law," Infante said.

After the City Council meeting, Guevara handed Fraga a petition asking the city to revoke the agreement. He told the mayor in Spanish that 170 Doral families had signed it.

"This is on behalf of 170 families," he said.

Fraga said the city's records show that local officers have not participated in immigration enforcement operations.

"Data shows that our police have not participated … in collaboration with ICE," she said.

The mayor also said she had contacted Florida's attorney general for clarification about withdrawing from the agreement. According to Fraga, the guidance she received indicated that leaving could put the city at odds with state law.

"It was clear in the agreement that any city that exists after entering would be seen as a sanctuary city or acting against the law," she said.

Guevara said he and other residents want stronger assurances that Doral police are not assisting ICE, even through phone calls to federal agents.

Meanwhile, he is weighing whether he can afford to keep his restaurant open.

"I'm consulting with my wife," he said. "Maybe one more week, two weeks."

Community members who gathered outside City Hall said they intend to keep pressing officials to address the issue, arguing that fear will persist unless the city makes meaningful changes.