City of Orlando Passes Historic TRUST Act

On Monday July 23rd, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer and the Orlando City Commissioners voted unanimously to adopt and pass the TRUST Act resolution and policy, making history as the first city in the southeastern United States to introduce and pass such an effort. For the past eighteen months, the TRUST Orlando Coalition, a collective of over 36 social justice organizations representing thousands of Orlando residents, led this effort. The TRUST Act resolution and policy ensures undocumented immigrant residents in the City of Orlando will not be profiled or detained based on their citizenship status.

The TRUST Act resolution and policy affirms our commitment to uphold the constitutional rights of every person to due process, regardless of race, religion, language, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin. It upholds Orlando’s and this nation’s core values of equal treatment, compassion and opportunity.

Photo courtesy of Alianza for Progress

The TRUST Act ensures local law enforcement will not act as a deportation force, and respects due process and equal treatment under the law for all residents, including those who are undocumented. The TRUST Act ensures that detainer requests issued by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will not be honored by Orlando Police Department (OPD) without being accompanied by a judicial warrant. Undocumented members of our community can report crimes to OPD free from the fear of deportation, strengthening trust between our communities and law enforcement and making us all safer. This policy is an example of inclusion that will reverberate across our state and nation.

Christopher Cuevas, Executive Director of QLatinx and TRUST Facilitator shared, “our communities have historically been left to huddle in the shadows, afraid to speak out against the injustices and violence they have been left to endure at the hands of those that would seek to do them harm.” Cuevas continued, “with th