The governor of Florida, the Republican Ron DeSantis, presented before the state Senate a controversial bill to toughen immigration policies. According to the document, to which he had access voice of americalocal and county governments would be expressly prohibited from allocating funds to those people who cannot prove legal status in the United States.
It would also require hospitals to collect information on the immigration status of the patients they treat and then submit this data quarterly to the state health department.
The point of this bill, called SB 1718, that has caused the most indignation among the migrant community is the one that states that those who transport undocumented people or live with them knowing that they have an irregular status would be criminally punished. That law contemplates this as a third degree felony, punishable by imprisonment.
What does the bill say?
“Criminal penalties will be provided for persons who knowingly and willfully violate, or who reasonably should know and who violate, certain provisions relating to transportation to or within this state, or concealment, concealment, or protection from detection, or the attempted detection of people who entered the United States illegally”, the document states on this aspect.
That is why many pro-immigrant organizations in Florida have been protesting in recent days to express their rejection of this bill that, they say, would “criminalize the immigrant community” and “families where there are several members without legal documentation.” .
Pro-immigrant organizations against
María Bilbao, coordinator of American Friends Servicean organization that helps migrants in South Florida, regrets to the VOA that “this bill has neither head nor tail”, but remember that both the state House of Representatives and the Senate have a Republican majority, so they would have enough support for this legislation to prosper.
“This is not something against undocumented people, this is something against a person who is a legal resident or a US citizen,” he says, referring to the punishment that US residents or citizens who are with an undocumented person would get.
And it is that, according to the complaint, with this law in place, if the authorities discover an undocumented person in the same vehicle, they could be accused of charges for a third degree felony and could face up to 15 years in prison.
In other words, this law would not only criminalize the undocumented in Florida, but also US citizens, since being with someone without papers would be punished in the same way as those who possess drugs or steal vehicles in the state.
“This would be a felony, from 5 to 15 years in prison, for a person who was driving with an undocumented person or who had an undocumented person in their home, in their church or their community center,” explains Felipe Sosa, director executive of Hope Community Center, who lived for 15 years undocumented in the United States.
Berta Sales, an undocumented activist, has been taking to the streets in recent days to protest against this law. “Ron DeSantis does not have the power to deport anyone because he is not the federal government, but he does have the power to imprison citizens and residents for the simple fact of having an undocumented person living in his home or for transporting him,” she says. .
The woman, who has been without legal documents in the United States for more than 20 years, wonders “what are those parents going to do who have to take their undocumented children to school” while denouncing that “this is a direct attack to the migrant community.
Sonia Moreno, another undocumented activist, covered her mouth with adhesive tape and tied her hands to exemplify, she says, the impact this measure would have on the population.
“We are not going to shut up, they want to take away our voice, they want to tie us hand and foot. What’s more, they want to take us all to jail and here we are all immigrants,” Moreno said during a protest organized to express his rejection of this policy.
The governor defends that he has the legal protection to do so
The governor of Florida, despite the criticism raised by these groups in favor of migration, stresses that he is using legal protection to promote this type of measure. “Florida is using all available tools to protect our citizens from (Joe) Biden’s open border policies,” the governor wrote through his Twitter account.
DeSantis assures that these types of policies seek to reduce the illegal trafficking of people by criminal organizations, despite the fact that the bill does not include any exception for, for example, non-governmental organizations that help the migrant community.
Already at the beginning of the state legislature, which took place a little over a month ago, DeSantis assured that the immigration issue would be one of the most important aspects that he would address from now on.
“We must further toughen our laws against illegal migration, improving employment verification, increasing penalties for people smuggling, and further discouraging illegal migration in Florida,” he maintains.
In the last few hours, various religious groups in Florida have joined these protests. Backed by the Catholic Church, they denounce this legislative proposal as an “aggression against religious freedom” because, according to what they say, their only mission is to help, in this case the undocumented.
“We are called by the Bible to immigrants and those who need help. That is part of our faith”, adds Felipe Sosa.
They promise lawsuits
Pro-immigrant groups warn that these policies could end up paving the way for other more conservative states with similar laws and promise to take this measure to justice if it finally receives the support of both state chambers.
“We are going to file a lawsuit against the governor, and we are going to win this lawsuit,” says María Bilbao.
All in all, many of the activists regret that the underlying problem is that the immigration issue is something that has not been fully addressed by the federal government and they regret that, despite requests, there has been no bipartisan agreement to promote a legislation in this regard and regularize the 11 million undocumented people who are presumed to be living in the shadows in the United States.
“It is very frustrating because legislatively we have not been able to achieve it. The 60 votes (in the Senate) are needed and the votes are never reached, and it is really very frustrating for the millions of undocumented immigrants who live in the United States and that now we have to fight against these administrative measures”, declares Bilbao convinced of that “the fight continues and those who fight are not dead.”
“He intends to run in the presidential elections”
Some of them believe that behind this “anti-immigrant policy” is the intention of the Florida governor to present his candidacy for the 2024 presidential elections for the Republican party, despite the fact that he has not confirmed anything in this regard and, until At the moment, he has always said that his objective is to fulfill the mandate of his governorship.
“He wants to be the Republican nominee for the 2024 presidential election and that’s why he’s introducing this legislation, he wants to be the most extreme of all, to attract the most conservative wing of the party to support him,” says Thomas Kennedy, director of the Florida Immigrant Alliance (FLIC).
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