Eileen Higgins was sworn in as mayor of Miami on Thursday, ending a 24-year drought for a Democrat and becoming the first woman and the first non-Hispanic person to lead the city government.
Higgins, 61, was sworn in at a ceremony at Miami-Dade College following her election victory on December 9.
“You chose trust over corruption, direction over distraction, and public service over political gridlock,” she said in her inaugural address.
The Democrat won the mayoral race with nearly 60% of the vote, defeating Republican Emilio González, the candidate supported by U.S. President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
Although local elections are nonpartisan, Higgins’ victory in a stronghold that Democrats hadn’t won since 2001, when Manny Díaz won and took office as mayor, boosted hopes within her party.
Furthermore, it made Higgins, a former Miami borough commissioner, the first woman and the first non-Hispanic person to hold the position.
The politician arrives at the Mayor’s office with the goal of eliminating bureaucratic obstacles and ending corruption, the latter being one of her key campaign promises.
She has also repeatedly expressed her opposition to the 287(g) agreement that the Miami Commission reached with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to facilitate the detention of migrants.
“Our opportunity is limitless when we unite, share this city with one another, respect and care for each other, and give everyone’s dreams space to soar,” she said in her address at Miami-Dade College.
The 287(g) program allows local police to perform federal immigration enforcement duties, such as questioning, detaining, or arresting individuals suspected of violating immigration laws.
Prior to her role as commissioner, Higgins served in the U.S. Foreign Service from 2009 to 2012, first as a staff assistant to the U.S. ambassador to Mexico and later as the Economic and Energy Affairs Officer for South Africa and Namibia.
