An Immokalee school warns parents of ICE agents in community

IMMOKALEE, Fla. — RCMA confirmed with Fox 4 that their organization sent out a text message to parents informing them they could see ICE agents in Immokalee.

The message stated ICE is expected to be in various communities in Southwest Florida, and encouraged families to remain silent.

RCMA said the safety of the school's families is its main priority.

RCMA is a non profit that supports migrant farm working children through child care and education. They have a couple centers and charter school in Immokalee. Find more information on the organization here.

Watch Immokalee Community Correspondent Ella Rhoades report below:

An Immokalee Facebook group shows several parents posting screenshots of the text message they got.

In both English and Spanish, the text warned parents, who have children in RCMA programs, that immigration and customs agents had been seen in parts of Southwest Florida.

"They are expected to be set up at the random checkpoints to check legal status of individuals," the message also said, "ICE is expected to be in Immokalee, Labelle, Lehigh and Ft. Myers…Remember to practice your 5th Amendment as you have the right to remain silent."

Immokalee Community Correspondent Ella Rhoades spoke with RCMA Communications Director Joseph Goldbach, who confirmed RCMA sent the message to Immokalee parents.

"We are a trusted community resource and our primary role is to keep families informed about situations that may affect their daily lives," he said. "It could be anything from road closures weather."

While they gave families a heads up, they made it clear where they stand on immigration enforcement.

"We do not take a position on immigration enforcement primary concern the safety of our kids," Goldbach said.

On Wednesday, Rhoades talked with Homeland Security over the phone.

They said they work in all 67 Florida counties and cannot specify where they are day to day.

RCMA says it all comes down to their number one priority: safety.

"We wanna make sure that parents have a safe ability to bring their children to our centers and also pick them up and take them home...if we can't keep mom and dad safe, the children aren't safe," Goldbach said.

RCMA said if a concerned parent reaches out, they'll provide them with proper resources.