In 2024, Paola Freets were allowed in the US, settling in Florida, which was prepared by warm temperatures, a large Latin community and ease of finding employment and housing.
He was one of the hundreds of thousands of migrants, who had come to the state in recent years, because the immigration under the former President had increased. Joe Biden,
According to the internal government data received by the Associated Press, no state has more affected by the increase in immigrants compared to Florida. There were 1,271 migrants in Florida who came to every 100,000 residents from May 2023 to January 2025, followed by New York, California, Texas and Illinois.
Fights and her husband along with their three children ran away from violence in Colombia. After a few months Mexico They moved to an agricultural city of Apopka nearby OrlandoWhere can get cheaper housing than immigrants Miami Since they spread throughout a community that already had a large population of Mexican and Puerto Rickon. Her sister -in -law had a mobile house which she could rent.
“He advised us to come to Orlando because Spanish is spoken here and the weather is good,” said 37 -year -old Fights. “We felt well and welcomed.”
Data of US Customs and Border Protection, which should verify all of those who are allowed to enter the US and pursue an immigration case, shows that Miami was the most affected metropolitan area in the US with 2,191 new migrants for each 100,000 residents. Orlando ranks 10th with 1,499 new migrants for each 100,000 residents.
CBP data captured the American destinations described for 2.5 million migrants who crossed the border, including the frayes that used an app to make an appointment for admission now.
Freits and her husband requested asylum and obtained work permits. He is now a housekeeper at a hotel in Orlando, a tourist destination with more than a dozen theme parks, including the Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando and Civild. Her husband works in a plant nursery.
“We came here in search of freedom, to work. We do not like to give anything for free,” Fights said, who asked that AP identified her mother’s middle and second last name for fear of safety in Colombia.
Orlando absorbed new migrants who came
Historically, the immigrant population of Central Florida was primarily from Mexico and Central America, with a handful of Venezuela in 1999 after the socialist Hugo Chavez became President. The same program was later extended to HiTian and Cubbons, and their appearance was visible rapidly. The state also has a large column population.
Many immigrants came to Florida because they were friends and relatives.
In Orlando, they settled throughout the region. Trade for catering for new arrival in shopping areas with Mexican and Puerto Rickon shops. Venezuela’s restaurants sell Empanadus and Arepus, which was opened in the same plaza as a Mexican supermarket that offers tacos and anchilladus. The churches started offering more mass in Spanish and Craol, which is called Hitian.
As the population increased, apartments, shopping centers, offices and warehouses replaced many orange trees and forests, once surrounded Orlando.
The economy increased when more people arrived
The new immigrants worked in the growing construction industry, as well as in agriculture, transportation, utilities and manufacturing. Many work in restaurants and hotels and as taxi drivers. Some started their own businesses.
“It is like a very vibrant community,” Felip Sosa-Lazbalelet, Executive Director of the Hope Community Center, said, a group that provides free services to immigrants in Central Florida. “It likes,” I am going to work hard and I am going to fight for my American dream, “That feeling.”
Immigrants contributed to Florida’s GDP-all the goods and services produced in the state increased from 24.3% to 25.5% in 2023, according to the analysis of the US immigration council, the immigration of the annual surveys of the Census Bureau. The number of immigrants in the workforce increased from 2.8 million to 3.1 million, or 26.5% to 27.4%. The data includes immigrants in the US legal and illegally.
Immigrants searched for advice
Groups that help immigrants also increased in size.
“We received hundreds of calls in a week,” said Gisel Martinez, a legal director of Orlando Center for Justice, said. “So many people of the people say that ‘I have come now, I don’t know anyone, I have no money yet, I have no job yet. Can you help me?”
The Center formed a program to welcome him. It grew by serving 40 people in 2022 in 2023 269 in 2023 and 524 in 2024, in 2024, Melissa Ma heintas, Executive Director, said.
In 2021, around 500 immigrants attended a Hispanic Federation Fair, offering free dental, medical and legal services. By 2024, 2,500 were present.
It is expected, meanwhile, serving 6,000 people in 2019 exceeded 2023 and 20,000 in 2024.
Many people are now being detained
After the president Donald Trump Returned to the office in January, anxiety spread through many immigrant communities. The Republican -led state Florida has worked to help the Trump administration with its immigration crack and implemented laws targeting illegal immigration.
In July 2024, a 38 -year -old solo mother from Mexico, who crossed the border with her three children, said she came to Central Florida as four nephews who were living in the area told them that it is a peaceful place where people speak Spanish. Mathematics teacher, who requested asylum, insisted on identifying by his first name as he is afraid of exile.
In July 2025, immigration officials placed an electronic bracelet on his ankle to monitor him.
Because after presenting the work permit request, one of his friends was deported, he did not say for one, he said.
“It’s scary,” he said. “Of course this is.”
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Associated Press Writer Elliot Spagat contributed to the report in San Diego.