Historic shift in Hialeah politics: First woman mayor takes office amid council shakeup
Garcia-Roves is becoming the first woman to serve as mayor of Hialeah, a strong mayor position, taking on the role in an interim capacity during the city's centennial anniversary, following Esteban 'Steve' Bovo's resignation to become a lobbyist in Washington, D.C, a move that took effect on Sunday.
Garcia-Roves, 42, a mother who homeschooled her children, entered politics following in the footsteps of her father, Bernardo Garcia-Roves—a respected community leader who advised several of Hialeah's mayors and council members. Though politically connected for years, she formally stepped into the public spotlight in 2019 with the backing of then-Mayor Carlos Hernandez. Running on his slate, she defeated Milly Herrera, a prominent advocate for Hialeah Park. Known for her quiet presence during meetings, Garcia-Roves has typically supported items on the agenda and rarely voices opposition.
'I may be quiet, but I'm a firm believer that actions speak louder than words. I don't believe in speaking without purpose' said Garcia-Roves in her speech as mayor. 'I am here to work, to listen and to lead by example, with a clear focus on doing what is best for our beloved city.'
To the media, Garcia-Roves said she plans to follow in the footsteps of former Mayor Bovo in governing the city. However, she pledged to ease the burden of Hialeah's high water and sewer fees—the fourth highest in Miami-Dade County. While she did not specify who would benefit from this relief, her office said the plan would be subsidized through grants the city has received. A similar promise was made by Bovo during his tenure but ultimately went unfulfilled.
In 2023, during an election year, the city announced it would invest $250,000 in the Utility Assessment Relief Program (UARP) to help seniors offset a water rate hike that was implemented in September 2022. However, public records obtained by El Nuevo Herald reveal that only $4,711.50 in grants have actually been distributed through the program.
One of the most defining moments of her political career came in 2022, when she led a public campaign to raise mental health awareness after losing a family member to suicide. last year, Garcia-Roves gained attention again when Hialeah opposed Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava's proposal to hold a referendum for a $2.5 billion debt plan. As council vice president at the time, Garcia-Roves made an unusual statement on behalf of Bovo's administration, announcing the introduction of a resolution opposing any county bond referendum.
Garcia-Roves was reelected unopposed to the city council in 2023, and a year later, she was chosen by her fellow council members to serve as council president—a symbolic role unless the mayor's seat becomes vacant, as it has now. According to the city charter, when the mayor's seat is vacated, the council president assumes the role. Although the next mayoral election is scheduled for November, a recent change to the city code allows for a two-month transition period after the election. As a result, Garcia-Roves will serve as interim mayor until January 2026—unless she decides to run for the office herself.
When asked by the Herald whether she intends to run, Garcia-Roves didn't rule it out. 'It's a big decision I have to make,' she said. 'I need to sit down with my family and determine that. Right now, I'm focused on the position I've been entrusted with. But I have until June to make up my mind.'
Several politicians are eyeing the mayor's seat in Hialeah now that it's officially open. Miami-Dade County Commissioner René Garcia entered the race on March 31, filing his candidacy documents. He is set to challenge former council member Bryan Calvo, who was the first to launch his campaign after learning that Bovo would be stepping down. But they may not be the only contenders.
Although no one else has formally filed paperwork, Councilwoman Monica Perez, reelected in 2023, told the Herald she is 'considering' run for mayor. She said several residents have encouraged her, though she made it clear she would not run against Commissioner Garcia if he decides to stay in the race. Garcia has told multiple TV outlets that he has not made a final decision and will wait until the qualification period, which runs from July 7-28, to determine whether he'll remain a candidate.
Another potential contender: Council Member Jesus Tundidor, who, like Perez and Garcia-Roves was elected in 2019 under then-Mayor Carlos Hernandez. However, Tundidor filed on April 4 to run for the Miami-Dade Commission seat that Garcia may vacate—anticipating a possible shuffle in political positions. Once considered the front-runner to succeed former Mayor Bovo, Tundidor was widely expected to have the former mayor's endorsement. Instead, Bovo threw his support behind Commissioner Garcia.
With Garcia-Roves stepping into the mayor's role, her city council seat will remain vacant until at least January 2026. Two potential candidates have emerged as front runners to fill it.
One of them is William Marrero, 21, who currently serves as an aide to Council Member Luis Rodriguez, who is also up for reelection. Marrero is pursuing a bachelor's degree in Public Administration at Florida International University, after earning an Associate in Arts degree in Public Policy and Services. He has been involved in public service since the age of 15, including four years working with Rodriguez.
Marrero told the Herald he believes the city needs leaders who listen. His experience in politics, he said, gives him firsthand insight into how local government operates — and where it needs to improve.
Marrero is also the boyfriend of Lorena Romero, 24, the newly appointed chief of staff to Mayor Garcia-Roves. Romero rose quickly through the ranks, going from a council aide to one of the city's most influential positions. Marrero's potential candidacy has raised questions about his independence and whether he may receive preferential support from the mayor. While the mayor does not have a vote on the council, the symbolic weight of the position and Garcia-Roves' influence could sway the council's decision.
The other potential candidate is Eduardo Santiesteban, 49, a community activist and advertising professional whose political involvement began after a personal crisis involving his daughter. Her respiratory condition was endangered by limited access between Hialeah and Miami Lakes, particularly in the city's newly developed area near I-75. Motivated by the urgency of the situation, Santiesteban led a successful campaign to open a connecting bridge along Northwest 170th Street. He gained the support of Bovo, at the time a county commissioner. After becoming mayor, Bovo fulfilled the promise in August 2022, improving access for more than 16,000 residents in the area.
Santiesteban ran for city council in 2021 in hopes of doing more for his neighborhood in Hialeah Heights, but lost in the primary. The seat was ultimately won by Bryan Calvo, who went on to become the sole opposition voice during Bovo's mayoral term. Another candidate in that race, Angelica Pacheco, later won a seat in 2023 but was removed by Gov. Ron DeSantis amid an ongoing FBI investigation into alleged healthcare fraud. Her trial is currently underway.
When Pacheco's seat became vacant, Santiesteban attempted to fill it. However, then-Mayor Bovo reportedly pressured council members to withhold their support, arguing that since Santiesteban had previously lost an election, he should earn a seat through the voters, not by appointment. Local politicians told the Herald at the time that Bovo even threatened to veto the appointment if it moved forward.
'If you have run for office and not won, you should pursue the position through an electoral process,' Bovo said last year.
The open mayoral seat, combined with four council seats up for election—including two currently held by interim appointees—raises the possibility of a complete political overhaul in Hialeah. If Garcia-Roves and Perez decide to run for mayor, and Tundidor pursues a seat on the Miami-Dade County Commission, every seat on the City Council could be in play this election cycle.

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2 days ago
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Abrego Garcia to remain behind bars for at least a month even as judge rejects Trump administration's claim he's dangerous
A federal judge in Tennessee declined on Wednesday to undo a separate judge's decision to let Kilmar Abrego Garcia remain free while he awaits trial on human smuggling charges — though he'll continue to remain behind bars for at least another month. The ruling from US District Judge Waverly Crenshaw said federal prosecutors had not shown 'through clear and convincing evidence' that Abrego Garcia would present a danger to others or the community if he were allowed to remain out of criminal custody as his case unfolds. 'The government's general statements about the crimes brought against Abrego, and the evidence it has in support of those crimes, do not prove Abrego's dangerousness,' Crenshaw wrote in a 37-page ruling rejecting a request from the Trump administration that he should reverse a ruling by a magistrate judge in Nashville that also said prosecutors hadn't made a strong case for keeping Abrego Garcia behind bars for now. But the magistrate judge — Barbara Holmes — said in another decision that Abrego Garcia would remain behind bars for at least 30 more days, granting an unopposed request by his lawyers for him to stay in criminal custody. Abrego Garcia's lawyers had made the request earlier this week in an effort to ensure removal proceedings wouldn't quickly begin once he's released from custody. Just as Crenshaw, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, released his ruling, a third judge in Maryland who is overseeing a civil case brought by Abrego Garcia and his family over his wrongful deportation earlier this year to El Salvador released her own ruling that bars the administration from quickly deporting him again should he be released from criminal custody in coming days. That ruling from US District Judge Paula Xinis, also an Obama appointee, is meant to do two things: Restore Abrego Garcia to the immigration position he was in before his deportation in mid-March and ensure his due process rights aren't violated again should officials try to remove him from the US a second time. 'These rulings are a powerful rebuke of the government's lawless conduct and a critical safeguard for Kilmar's due process rights,' said Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, one of Abrego Garcia's attorneys, in a statement. 'After the government unlawfully deported him once without warning, this legal protection is essential.' Xinis is prohibiting the Trump administration from taking Abrego Garcia into US Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody once he's released from criminal custody, and she ordered officials to put him back into the position of being under supervision by the ICE Baltimore Field Office, which is what his status quo was prior to mid-March. That supervision allowed him to work and live in Maryland, with occasional check-ins with an immigration officer. 'Once Abrego Garcia is restored under the ICE Supervision Order out of the Baltimore Field Office, Defendants may take whatever action is available to them under the law,' the judge wrote, adding that it's possible he could be ordered to appear before immigration officials in Baltimore, who may begin the process of deporting him. 'So long as such actions are taken within the bounds of the Constitution and applicable statutes, this Court will have nothing further to say,' Xinis wrote. The Trump administration quickly criticized the judge's decision. 'The fact this unhinged judge is trying to tell ICE they can't arrest an MS-13 gang member, indicted by a grand jury for human trafficking, and subject to immigration arrest under federal law is LAWLESS AND INSANE,' Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said on X, referring to the government's allegation that Abrego Garcia is a gang member. The ruling also puts guardrails on the government's ability to quickly deport Abrego Garcia to a nation other than his home country of El Salvador. Those measures, the judge said, are meant to ensure the government won't run roughshod over Abrego Garcia's due process rights, which include having the chance to raise a claim that he has a fear of facing torture in the third country the government may want to deport him to. Should officials be planning to deport him to a third country, they must give his lawyers at least 72 hours' notice prior to that intended removal so he has an opportunity to make such 'claims of credible fear or seek any other relief available to him under the law and the Constitution.' The Maryland father of three was wrongly deported to El Salvador in mid-March, setting off a monthslong legal fracas before Xinis, who ordered the government to secure his return to the US. He was brought back to the US last month to face federal human smuggling charges in Tennessee. Abrego Garcia is currently in pre-trial detention in Tennessee but could soon be released from that court's authority and turned over to the Department of Homeland Security. Last month, his attorneys in the case before Xinis, of the federal court in Greenbelt, Maryland, raised concerns that the Trump administration would quickly deport him once he's out of criminal custody and back in the hands of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The government has wavered in recent weeks on whether they would deport him before he stands trial in the human smuggling case.' 'All we're trying to do for today is ensure that there is no constitutional violation,' Andrew Rossman, one of Abrego Garcia's attorneys, said during a recent court hearing. The government is already barred from removing Abrego Garcia to El Salvador because of a 2019 order from an immigration judge.


CNN
2 days ago
- CNN
Abrego Garcia to remain behind bars for at least a month even as judge rejects Trump administration's claim he's dangerous
A federal judge in Tennessee declined on Wednesday to undo a separate judge's decision to let Kilmar Abrego Garcia remain free while he awaits trial on human smuggling charges — though he'll continue to remain behind bars for at least another month. The ruling from US District Judge Waverly Crenshaw said federal prosecutors had not shown 'through clear and convincing evidence' that Abrego Garcia would present a danger to others or the community if he were allowed to remain out of criminal custody as his case unfolds. 'The government's general statements about the crimes brought against Abrego, and the evidence it has in support of those crimes, do not prove Abrego's dangerousness,' Crenshaw wrote in a 37-page ruling rejecting a request from the Trump administration that he should reverse a ruling by a magistrate judge in Nashville that also said prosecutors hadn't made a strong case for keeping Abrego Garcia behind bars for now. But the magistrate judge — Barbara Holmes — said in another decision that Abrego Garcia would remain behind bars for at least 30 more days, granting an unopposed request by his lawyers for him to stay in criminal custody. Abrego Garcia's lawyers had made the request earlier this week in an effort to ensure removal proceedings wouldn't quickly begin once he's released from custody. Just as Crenshaw, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, released his ruling, a third judge in Maryland who is overseeing a civil case brought by Abrego Garcia and his family over his wrongful deportation earlier this year to El Salvador released her own ruling that bars the administration from quickly deporting him again should he be released from criminal custody in coming days. That ruling from US District Judge Paula Xinis, also an Obama appointee, is meant to do two things: Restore Abrego Garcia to the immigration position he was in before his deportation in mid-March and ensure his due process rights aren't violated again should officials try to remove him from the US a second time. 'These rulings are a powerful rebuke of the government's lawless conduct and a critical safeguard for Kilmar's due process rights,' said Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, one of Abrego Garcia's attorneys, in a statement. 'After the government unlawfully deported him once without warning, this legal protection is essential.' Xinis is prohibiting the Trump administration from taking Abrego Garcia into US Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody once he's released from criminal custody, and she ordered officials to put him back into the position of being under supervision by the ICE Baltimore Field Office, which is what his status quo was prior to mid-March. That supervision allowed him to work and live in Maryland, with occasional check-ins with an immigration officer. 'Once Abrego Garcia is restored under the ICE Supervision Order out of the Baltimore Field Office, Defendants may take whatever action is available to them under the law,' the judge wrote, adding that it's possible he could be ordered to appear before immigration officials in Baltimore, who may begin the process of deporting him. 'So long as such actions are taken within the bounds of the Constitution and applicable statutes, this Court will have nothing further to say,' Xinis wrote. The Trump administration quickly criticized the judge's decision. 'The fact this unhinged judge is trying to tell ICE they can't arrest an MS-13 gang member, indicted by a grand jury for human trafficking, and subject to immigration arrest under federal law is LAWLESS AND INSANE,' Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said on X, referring to the government's allegation that Abrego Garcia is a gang member. The ruling also puts guardrails on the government's ability to quickly deport Abrego Garcia to a nation other than his home country of El Salvador. Those measures, the judge said, are meant to ensure the government won't run roughshod over Abrego Garcia's due process rights, which include having the chance to raise a claim that he has a fear of facing torture in the third country the government may want to deport him to. Should officials be planning to deport him to a third country, they must give his lawyers at least 72 hours' notice prior to that intended removal so he has an opportunity to make such 'claims of credible fear or seek any other relief available to him under the law and the Constitution.' The Maryland father of three was wrongly deported to El Salvador in mid-March, setting off a monthslong legal fracas before Xinis, who ordered the government to secure his return to the US. He was brought back to the US last month to face federal human smuggling charges in Tennessee. Abrego Garcia is currently in pre-trial detention in Tennessee but could soon be released from that court's authority and turned over to the Department of Homeland Security. Last month, his attorneys in the case before Xinis, of the federal court in Greenbelt, Maryland, raised concerns that the Trump administration would quickly deport him once he's out of criminal custody and back in the hands of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The government has wavered in recent weeks on whether they would deport him before he stands trial in the human smuggling case.' 'All we're trying to do for today is ensure that there is no constitutional violation,' Andrew Rossman, one of Abrego Garcia's attorneys, said during a recent court hearing. The government is already barred from removing Abrego Garcia to El Salvador because of a 2019 order from an immigration judge.


CBS News
4 days ago
- CBS News
Abrego Garcia's lawyers ask judge to delay potential release from criminal custody for 30 days amid deportation threat
Washington — Lawyers for Kilmar Abrego Garcia asked a federal judge overseeing his criminal case to put off his release from custody for 30 days if the judge rejects a Justice Department bid to keep him in confinement while awaiting a trial. Abrego Garcica's lawyers said in a filing that the 30-day pause in issuing a release order would give him time to evaluate his legal options in response to likely efforts by the Department of Homeland Security to deport him. "We have been advised by the government that if the court denies the government's motion for revocation, the defendant would be transferred to the custody of the Department of Homeland Security ('DHS'), and DHS would begin removal proceedings," they wrote. The Justice Department does not object to the request, and Abrego Garcia's legal team said that the delay would not affect their ability to come up with a proposed schedule leading up to his criminal trial. A federal grand jury in Tennessee indicted Abrego Garcia in late May on two counts of human smuggling. He has pleaded not guilty to both counts. A trial in his case is set to begin in January. Abrego Garcia was deported to El Salvador in March as part of the Trump administration's mass deportation campaign, but his removal gained headlines after a federal immigration official acknowledged it was an administrative error. An immigration judge had granted Abrego Garcia a withholding of removal in 2019, which prevented DHS from deporting him to his home country of El Salvador because he was likely to face persecution by local gangs. Abrego Garcia, who has lived in Maryland after coming to the U.S. illegally in 2011, and his wife filed a civil lawsuit against the Trump administration in March challenging his removal, and a federal judge in Maryland ordered the government to facilitate his return to the U.S. After weeks of back-and-forth — and his case reaching the Supreme Court — Attorney General Pam Bondi announced in early June that Abrego Garcia had been released from Salvadoran custody and brought back to the U.S. to face criminal charges stemming from his alleged participation in a scheme to smuggle undocumented migrants into the country. A federal magistrate judge last month ordered Abrego Garcia's release from federal law enforcement custody while he awaits a trial, but that raised concerns that he would be swiftly detained by immigration agents and possibly deported. The Justice Department appealed that decision and asked a U.S. district judge to revoke the release order. The judge overseeing the criminal case, Waverly Crenshaw, held a hearing last week on the government's motion but has not yet ruled on whether to grant it. If Crenshaw denies the bid, it would give the green-light for Abrego Garcia to be released from criminal custody. But the prospect that Abrego Garcia would then swiftly be detained by the Department of Homeland Security for removal proceedings has created a new tangle for the courts to unravel. He has remained in the custody of U.S. Marshals as the legal proceedings have continued. In the ongoing civil case in Maryland, the federal judge is considering a separate request from Abrego Garcia's lawyers to return him to Maryland immediately after he is released from confinement in the criminal proceedings that are ongoing in Tennessee. They also asked the judge to bar the Trump administration from removing Abrego Garcia from the U.S. The judge in Maryland has not yet ruled on Abrego Garcia's requests.