In Miami (USA), Eileen Higgins was sworn in on Thursday as mayor of the city, ending a 24-year streak of Democrats winning the mayoral election and becoming the first woman and the first non-Hispanic person to head the municipal government. The 61-year-old Higgins was inaugurated at a ceremony at Miami-Dade College following her victory in the December 9 election. "You chose trust over corruption, direction over distraction, and public service over political stagnation," she said in her first speech as mayor. The Democrat won the mayoral race with about 60% of the vote against Republican Emilio González, who was supported by U.S. President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Although local elections are non-partisan, Higgins' victory in a bastion that Democrats had not conquered since 2001, when Manny Díaz won and took office as mayor, has raised hopes for her party. Additionally, Higgins, a former Miami district commissioner, became the first woman and the first non-Hispanic person to hold the office. The politician takes office as mayor with the goal of removing bureaucratic hurdles and ending corruption, the latter being one of her most prominent campaign issues. She has also on several occasions expressed her opposition to agreement 287(g), which the Miami Commission reached with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to facilitate the detention of migrants. "Our opportunities are infinite when we unite, when we share this city with one another, when we respect and care for each other, and when we give every person's dream room to soar high," she stated at the event at Miami-Dade College. The 287(g) program allows local police to perform federal immigration control tasks, such as questioning, detaining, or arresting suspects of violating immigration laws. Before her role as a commissioner, Higgins served in the U.S. Foreign Service from 2009 to 2012, first as a personal assistant to the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico and subsequently as the head of Economic and Energy Affairs for South Africa and Namibia.
