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Fort Myers Resident Profiled Under 287(g):
“I Was Just Driving to Work”
At today’s Fort Myers City Council meeting, area residents spoke passionately and eloquently about the toxic effects of the city’s participation in the federal 287(g) immigration enforcement program. More than a dozen speakers laid out the many moral, ethical, and legal reasons the council should reverse its decision. But no testimony was as powerful as Jorge’s.
In a quiet, calm voice he described to the council how he had been driving to work one recent morning when he was stopped by a Fort Myers police officer for no reason. He had not violated any traffic laws — an assertion supported by the fact that the officer did not even issue a warning, much less a citation. He had been stopped simply because his skin is brown, and that made the officer want to check his papers.
Not surprisingly, Jorge declined to be photographed for this story.
Remember this statement from the Department of Homeland Security? “Any claim that law enforcement has targeted individuals based on their skin color is disgusting and categorically FALSE.” Well, Jorge, a United States citizen, begs to differ.
Under the Fourth Amendment, you may recall, Americans are protected from random searches unless law enforcement has probable cause to believe they are involved in criminal activity. In no universe does minding your own business and driving to work while obeying all traffic laws provide any officer with probable cause.
Jorge asked me not to share his last name, and he declined to be photographed for this story because he’s currently job hunting. This employee with more than 20 years experience in his field, a master’s degree, and a spotless employment record found that his position had suddenly “been eliminated.”
But here’s his horrible, government-inflicted Catch 22: he needs to look for a new job, but now he’s fearful about leaving his house. He feels lucky — yes, lucky — that he wasn’t illegally detained and sent to an ICE facility, and he worries that he might not be so lucky next time.
And what was the Fort Myers City Council’s reaction to an actual example of an actual U.S. citizen’s Fourth Amendment rights being actually violated by the Fort Myers Police? They listened; the mayor adjourned the meeting; they filed out of the chamber.
In case you’ve been off-planet in the last few months, here’s what’s been going down: on March 17, the Fort Myers City Council tied 3–3 in an initial vote to approve a 287(g) agreement, which allows local police to partner with ICE. Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier then promptly came down on the council like a ton of bricks, threatening council members with civil and/or criminal penalties, including removal from office if they didn’t comply. So they whipped back into the council chamber in special session meeting on March 21 and voted unanimously to approve the 287(g) agreement. But, hey, they’re just following orders.
Written by Cynthia Wolfe, 8/4/2025