The South Florida Roundup

On this week's South Florida Roundup episode, we talked with the reporters who’ve heard from the first inmates at Florida’s controversial new migrant detention center out in the Everglades, Alligator Alcatraz — a place Miami-Dade County’s mayor says “is not who we are” (1:08). We also discussed how Haitians and other migrants here are coping with President Trump’s efforts to strip them of their de...

On The South Florida Roundup for this Fourth of July weekend, we revisited our Memorial Day weekend conversation with Miami native Edda Fields-Black about her Pulitzer Prize-winning history of Harriet Tubman and a pivotal Civil War raid (01:08). We also examined Lucy’s Law, which strengthens the state’s boating codes after Luciana Fernandez’s tragic death (19:34). And we looked at how we measure p...

On The South Florida Roundup, we looked at Alligator Alcatraz which has gone from out-there idea to reality in less than a week. Miami-Dade County is pushing back and so are environmental groups as construction begins in the Everglades [01:09]. We also headed to Fort Lauderdale, where Sistrunk Boulevard, a historically Black neighborhood in the city’s downtown, is hailed as a development darling,...

On the South Florida Roundup, we assessed another week of immigration controversy — from Miami’s vote to partner with the feds to Florida’s plan to build a migrant detention center in the Everglades that’s being called Alligator Alcatraz [1:08]. We also spoke to a South Florida journalist who’s recording what the last surviving witnesses of the Holocaust have to tell us — here, today [20:38]. And...

On the South Florida Roundup, we unpacked a tumultuous week — and what may be a tumultuous weekend — involving America’s and South Florida’s angry dispute over President Trump’s migrant deportation crusade (0:09). We also examined why a new poll shows the denizens of Miami Beach favor a Metromover connection to Miami — even if their mayor and city commissioners don’t (20:44). And we previewed the...

On The South Florida Roundup, we looked at President Trump’s new travel bans and restrictions — and the impact, if not the insult, it’s registering in our Haitian, Venezuelan and Cuban communities (01:08). We also talked with acclaimed NBC 6 meteorologist John Morales about his concerns that Trump’s budget cuts could have weathermen like him “flying blind” this hurricane season (20:02). And we hea...

On The South Florida Roundup, we said hello to another hurricane season. Forecasters — the ones still employed — again expect an above-average roster of named storms, from Andrea to Wendy, including as many as five major hurricanes (01:08). But here are two big questions if one of them hits us: Will your overpriced windstorm policy actually cover the damage anymore (19:05)? And with FEMA funding a...

On the South Florida Roundup, we talked with the Miami native Edda Fields-Black — winner of the Pulitzer Prize for her history of Harriet Tubman and the pivotal Civil War raid on the Combahee River (01:08). We also examined Lucy’s Law — a bill that was just passed by the Florida Legislature to strengthen the state’s boating codes after Luciana Fernandez’s tragic death (19:34). And we looked at how...

On this week's episode of The South Florida Roundup, we discussed the HIV infection crisis in South Florida – and the serious cuts in federal funding for detection and prevention that could make it worse (1:09). We also took a look at the quarter-million-dollar per day cost of protecting President Trump that Palm Beach County bears each time he visits Mar-a-Lago – and whether it will get paid back...

On The South Florida Roundup, we looked at the new pope, Robert Francis Prevost, now Leo XIV – and talk with a nun who knew and worked with him in Peru. How will his American and Latin American, ties influence his papacy (01:08)? We also discussed a community court in Fort Lauderdale, and why Florida’s new homelessness law makes it an important innovation (22:13). And we examined that rescue of Ve...

On the South Florida Roundup, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava discussed her fight against Florida’s controversial move to remove fluoride from local drinking water (01:15). We also talked about Cuban exile healthcare billionaire Mike Fernandez’s claims that Miami’s Cuban political leaders are betraying their community (19:02). And a weather expert weighed in on the drought and if we s...

On this week’s South Florida Roundup, we examine the Palm Beach County School Board’s scramble to revise its diversity, equity and inclusion programs in order to salvage $300 million federal funding (1:12). We also examine Operation Tidal Wave, and how the feds, with state help, are specifically targeting undocumented migrants in Florida. (18:57) And we remember Francis, the first Latin American p...

On The South Florida Roundup, we looked into local universities that have partnered with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the 18 Florida International University students who had their visas revoked (01:08). We also looked at what the city of Fort Lauderdale has been doing to avoid flood damage, like the kind caused by dramatic rainfall two years ago (16:06). And, we explored the uniq...

On the South Florida Roundup, we look at how President Trump’s tariffs go after small countries like Guyana (1:23). We also examine how elderly residents are getting evicted in Fort Lauderdale (13:50). Plus, a check-in with a Miami Beach commissioner to find out how spring breakers behaved (26:22).

On this episode of The South Florida Roundup, we had a panel of immigration experts helping sift through the questions that are haunting South Florida’s immigrant-rich community — particularly Venezuelan, Cuban, Haitian and Nicaraguan migrants who are suddenly unlawful and subject to deportation (01:19). We looked at how these migrants can go about looking for ways to adjust their status to someth...

On the South Florida Roundup, we examined new controversies — including two new deaths — at the federal Krome Detention Center for migrants in Miami-Dade. Why do these problems keep recurring (01:10)? We also discussed WPLG-Local 10’s decision to split with the ABC network. Will it usher in bold new local television programming and journalism – or is it a huge business risk (20:35)? And we looked...

On the South Florida Roundup we looked at the dispute between Miami Beach and O Cinema over the screening of a controversial, Oscar-winning documentary about Israel and Palestinians (1:03). We also talked to the Miami attorney of one of the Venezuelan migrants who was deported — perhaps illegally — to El Salvador last weekend (19:15). And we examined the dismantling of Radio and TV Martí and their...

On the South Florida Roundup, we sorted fact from fiction — but acknowledged the fear — when it comes to the immigration policing agreements several South Florida cities just struck with the Trump Administration (01:11). We also looked at the results from important local elections in Broward and Palm Beach Counties: Can Deerfield Beach still be great again (19:06)? And we examined how last month’s...

On this week's South Florida Roundup, we looked at the Trump Administration’s layoffs and cutbacks at key science agencies here – not least of which involve the researchers who revolutionized hurricane forecasting (01:10). We also talked to Tony Doris, the editorial page editor of the Palm Beach Post. who was fired after he ran an editorial cartoon that some Jewish advocates called antisemitic (18...

On the South Florida Roundup, we dedicated the entire show to the issue that’s got this community tied in knots at the moment: immigration. Or maybe: anti-immigration. We had a candid conversation about our wrecked immigration system: Do we rely too much on stop-gap measures like TPS and parole (01:11)? Did the Trump Administration brand non-criminal migrants as “criminals” and send them to Guantá...

The South Florida Roundup's Tim Padgett co-hosts the 90-minute call-in special “Haiti on the Line,” a collaboration between WLRN, WNYC (New York City) and GBH News (Boston) which aired live on Feb. 24, 2025. Last year more than 5,000 people in Haiti were killed in gang-related violence. The country has been in a political crisis for years. And for Haitians in America with feet in two worlds, reali...

On the latest episode of South Florida Roundup, we talked about how the city of Coral Gables became an end-point for smuggled migrants between the Bahamas and South Florida in recent weeks (01:06). We also looked into red light camera tickets and how cities like Aventura are making major profits from them (16:30). And we examined the city of Miami commission’s recent vote to shift millions meant f...

This week on the South Florida Roundup, we talked with Miami’s Roman Catholic Archbishop Thomas Wenski, who’s had a lot to say about the Trump administration’s controversial pursuit of undocumented migrants — and its swipes at the Church (01:11). We also looked at another controversial trend: top Republican politicos taking the helm at colleges like Florida International University and Florida Atl...

On the South Florida Roundup, we looked at President Trump’s alarming decision to revoke Temporary Protected Status for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans here — who now face deportation back to a brutal dictatorship (01:06). We also looked at a Miami-Dade effort just underway that could turn traditionally Black communities into a new city (20:22). And we talked with the filmmaker behind a new W...

On the South Florida Roundup, we took a deep dive into this region’s deepening waste management crisis (01:02). We also looked at the University of Miami’s new mission to test Elon Musk’s brain chip to help paralyzed persons lead more normal lives (20:00). And we examined what’s next for the undocumented residents known as Dreamers now that Florida may reduce their access to college (35:20).