Proposed anti-immigration laws could ‘make felons out of every Floridian’
Demonstrators joined the Florida Immigrant Coalition in Gainesville, Fl., to stand in solidarity with those navigating the country’s complex immigration system. (FLImmigrant/Instagram)
A new anti-immigration bill in Florida could make it a felony to have a friend or family member who is undocumented in your home or car.
Known as SB 1718, the bill was introduced by State Senator Blaise Ingoglia early last month. Another bill, HB 1617, has also been mired in controversy.
Together, the two bills will, according to the Florida Immigration Coalition, "turn back the clock on human rights."
The bills would mandate the use of e-verify systems, while increasing fines and penalties for Florida employers who hire people navigating the country’s complex immigration system. In addition to a $10,000 fine per worker, the employer would see their business licenses revoked across the state of Florida.
What makes the legislation so concerning is how widely it can be interpreted.
Welcoming immigrants into a Florida home, business, vehicle, or place of worship would be a criminal offense, opening up everyone from taxi drivers to pastors to legal liability.
What’s the ultimate goal of such cruelty? This political reporter predicts it will discourage good Samaritans from helping some of the most vulnerable people in society.
The Florida Immigrant Coalition fears Florida will become "a highly dangerous state for those visitors from other states who don’t have a regulated immigration status by prohibiting the use of their valid driver’s license from their home state."
Local governments would also be prohibited from allocating funds to non-profits or other community groups seeking to create identification cards for immigrants.
The overarching laws would also force hospitals receiving Medicaid funding to start tracking how much money is spent on immigrant care in Florida emergency rooms.
It would also stop lawyers who are regulating their immigration status from getting a law license in Florida.
DeSantis the ‘puppet master’ of anti-immigration bills
State Senator Shevrin Jones, a member of the Rules Committee, has panned the proposed pair of bills.
"With this proposal, my colleagues are leading an attack on our neighbors, families, friends, and fellow Floridians," Jones said in a release last month, adding DeSantis and Florida Republicans "are more focused on attacking and vilifying immigrants and Latinos to advance their political agenda than solving the real problems hurting Floridians."
Calling DeSantis a "puppet master," David Metellus, Director of Politics and Policy for the Florida Immigrant Coalition, noted the decision "will endanger the lives of Floridians from the Panhandle to the Florida Keys."
"These lawmakers stand ready to incarcerate Floridians who welcome friends and neighbors who hold a different immigration status than their own," Metellus said last month.
"The legislators who voted yes, as well as Governor DeSantis, are ready to label you a human trafficker for living under the same roof as your mother who has been navigating our complex immigration system for years."
Not only is the bill itself controversial, but it also represents another overreach from the state’s governor when it comes to the federal responsibility of immigration.
Last year, DeSantis reallocated COVID-19 assistance funding to illegally deport undocumented immigrants to Martha’s Vineyard.
Bills would affect all Floridians
The ramifications of the bills are wide-ranging, affecting not just the 4.5 million immigrants living in Florida, but all Floridians.
"Will you endorse with your vote a bill that could place one of your children in jail for giving a ride to a college mate who was born outside the U.S. and is still navigating the immigration system?" asked Renata Bozzetto, Deputy Director of the Florida Immigrant Coalition.
Or, Bozzetto continued, a bill that could jail parents for being cared for by a health-care assistant working without a regulated immigration status.
The coalition’s Executive Director, Tessa Petit, has similar concerns.
"This bill has the potential to make felons out of every single Floridian," she said. "From the soccer mom taking her children's friends to a game, to the clergy opening his place of worship to the children of God. No one is exempt from this bill."
Petit added the pair of bills takes freedom away from all Floridians.
"The state is mandating who you can and cannot love, allow into your place of worship, business, or home; who you and your family can befriend, and how to interact with your neighbors, friends, and family who are immigrants in our state."
For Petit, one of the most dangerous parts of the bill is that sheriffs in county jails would become authorized to take DNA samples when an immigrant is arrested and transferred to ICE custody.
"We already have reports of emboldened law enforcement agents being arrest-eager with Floridians who exhibit stereotypical Latino, Black, and Indigenous physical characteristics," Petit said. "The thought that their DNA could be collected without their consent is chilling, but the actual act is unconstitutional."
The real-life cost of anti-immigration efforts
For Rosa Elera, spokesperson for FLIC Votes, the pair of anti-immigration bills hit close to home.
Elera, the daughter of Peruvian immigrants, was born and raised in Florida, where her parents desperately tried to regulate their immigration status to no avail. As a result, she says they were terrified of anyone knowing about their status.
So when her father was diagnosed with stomach cancer, he delayed seeking treatment until it was too late.
"...[Not] because he was stubborn or because he didn’t understand what was happening to him, but because he was afraid," Elera said in a statement.
What was Elera’s father afraid of?
She says he feared being separated from his wife of 20 years, as well as his daughters, ages 11 and 6, and sent back to a country he no longer recognized.
"His fear was so big that it literally killed him and left my sister and me to grow up without a father," Elera said. My father’s death will always be one of my life’s biggest tragedies. Ultimately, cancer didn’t kill my father, the fear of being deported did."
Opposition to anti-immigration bills reaches Baptist Church
Even the Florida Conference of Catholic Baptists is publicly opposing SB 1718. In a March 14 letter, the group argued that the bill does little to fix the country’s broken immigration system or address legitimate concerns at the border.
"We oppose SB 1718 because this bill unfairly targets the immigrant community in Florida as well as those who devote themselves to assisting them," the letter reads.
The group took issue with the expanded definition of human smuggling, the problematic nature of the E-Verify system, and the move to prohibit undocumented immigrants from accessing in-state tuition rates.
"Further, requiring hospitals to collect data on patients’ immigration status may stigmatize patients and discourage them from seeking needed care, which could place a greater fiscal burden on already-strained medical systems if those individuals experience emergencies at later times," the letter continued.
If passed, both pieces of legislation will take effect on July 1.