Florida lawmakers respond to large crowds at Orlando immigration office

ORLANDO, Fla. - Throughout the week, there have been long lines and difficult conditions for people waiting days, or even weeks for their appointments at an ICE office in Orlando. On Friday night, there were far fewer people there since the office is closed on weekends.

But people were still getting ready to camp out over the weekend to get a spot on Monday.  

"People are coming here, sleeping three or four days," one of the people waiting told FOX 35.

Many of them worry about getting arrested and deported if they don't check-in.

ICE hasn't provided many answers, but now lawmakers are responding to the situation.

"First, we see you and what you are going through is unacceptable," said Rep. Darren Soto in an interview with FOX 35. "Second, we are already acting by reaching out to ICE today to try and get more personnel resources but most importantly, to have a scheduling system that recognizes the reality, not scheduling all these people in one day and folks worrying about what’s going to happen with their appointments. This can be done better, and we are certainly going to be working on it through this week into next week."

"We are a nation of laws and a nation of human decency," Rep. Val Demings said in a written statement. "We can live up to both if we have the political will to do so. That is exactly why I’m fighting to hire additional ICE officers and border agents, and continuing to work with local and state authorities to keep communities safe and live up to our values. As a police chief I learned this: having enough staff is critical."

Governor Ron DeSantis was asked about the situation Thursday night on Fox News, 

"We have money in the state budget, we don’t have it yet, I’m going to get it in the next few weeks," DeSantis said.