Miami icons step up where politicians won’t to denounce ICE raids, tactics

Look who’s picking up the slack — because our so-called leaders won’t.
The Keep Them Honest campaign — yes, the same one that plastered billboards all over Miami calling out local politicians for looking the other way while the Donald Trump administration rips families apart in his drive to deport immigrants — is back at it. And this time, they’ve brought some serious Miami muscle.
Four of the city’s most respected civic voices — Dr. Eduardo Padrón, Leticia Callava, David Lawrence Jr., and Michael Putney — are joining forces in a new campaign called “Four Voices, One Miami.”
The message? That looking the other way while families are torn apart isn’t leadership — it’s complicity.
“Silence in the face of this injustice is not an option,” said Chris Wills, the former co-founder of Cubanos Con Biden and vice president of  Keep Them Honest, Inc.
It’s a direct shot across the bow at the cowardly immigration politics that have infected South Florida since Trump took office — the raids, the detentions, the cruel enforcement tactics that tear apart families who’ve done nothing wrong except try to build a life here.
Read related: Video blasts U.S. Rep. Carlos Gimenez for silence on ending TPS, deportations
And who better to deliver that message than these four Miami icons, all of them retired, independent, and — most importantly — unbought.

Dr. Eduardo Padrón, the longtime Miami Dade College president who turned that institution into the Ellis Island of higher education, reminds us that due process is “the foundation of American justice.”
Leticia Callava, the Cuban-born TV journalist who spent decades behind the news desk, says she came to this country seeking freedom — and now feels a moral obligation to defend it for others.
David Lawrence Jr., former publisher of The Miami Herald and founder of The Children’s Trust, says it’s about the Constitution and basic humanity — something our lawmakers seem to misplace every election season.
And Michael Putney, Miami’s political conscience for decades on Channel 10, doesn’t mince words: “Silence is not leadership.”

Ouch. You know exactly who that’s aimed at.
“I’m troubled by the silence of our own members of Congress,” Putney says in his 30-second spot. “While President Trump’s policies spread fear, our representatives look the other way. They know these families, hard working neighbors who play by the rules.
“We deserve leaders who defend our values,” added Putney, one of the most trusted voices in our community. “It’s time to stand up for our neighbors because standing with them, is standing up for America.”
Lawrence, whose father came from Ireland fleeing the potato famine, says in his spot that he believes in secure borders. “But every person deserves humane treatment and due process. That’s not politics. That’s the constitution,” Lawrence said.
Wills said Lawrence “understands the impact that ripping families apart and ripping children from their mothers is having on this country.”
In a telephone press conference, Callava said they don’t want much.  “What we’re asking is not to throw open the doors for everyone, but for more human treatment of the people who are already here,” she said. “They are looking for guidance, for support. They don’t have a place to go to.”
She said that she felt supported and welcome when she came from Cuba as a child. “Where did that support go? Because one man went to the White House and sowed fear and hate in the country?” She compared him to Mt. Vesuvius. “Let’s stop the crazy.”
The campaign will roll out this week with broadcast and digital ads, social media, and those big bold billboards that have become Keep Them Honest’s signature move. Remember the ones that made some of our legislators choke on their cortaditos last time?
Read related: Campaign ramps up vs Miami’s Cuban, Republican congressional delegation
Back then, the group went after the hypocrisy and lack of representation from our congress members with billboards that called the cruel and traitors and a video that asked where Congressman Carlos Gimenez was hiding.  This round, they’re tackling something even deeper — what kind of community Miami wants to be.
Because let’s face it: for a city built by immigrants, we’ve sure become comfortable watching them be demonized. It’s like Miami’s collective amnesia — forgetting that everybody here came from somewhere else, even if your abuela landed in 1960 or your tonton crossed in the ’80s.
The “Four Voices, One Miami” campaign wants to remind us of that. And to remind politicians that courage and compassion shouldn’t be partisan.
Ladra gives it two paws up — mostly because it’s nice to see someone, anyone, speak up while the electeds keep hiding behind talking points and polls.
And if a few of those new billboards happen to pop up near some of the usual suspects’ districts? Well… that’s just a happy coincidence.

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