![]() We have to fix this system, and they continue to refuse to do it. I feel for the illegal immigrant community,” he said. Ingoglia said his plan is intended to force the federal government to act on the broken immigration system. He blamed the Biden administration for an influx of migrants and rejected the federal government’s rationale for its policies, likening the approach to “a child who kills his parents and then seeks pity for being an orphan.” Kent Wetherell last week backed the state’s arguments. Last month, the governor rolled out a sweeping immigration plan that mirrored Ingoglia’s bill.ĭeSantis has taken a number of steps to highlight illegal immigration, drawing national scrutiny last fall for using state funds to fly 49 migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard, Mass.ĭeSantis and Attorney General Ashley Moody also filed a lawsuit challenging Biden administration policies that led to people being released from detention after crossing the U.S. We are demonizing illegal immigrants,” Ingoglia said.ĭeSantis, who has not declared his candidacy but is considered a top contender for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, has frequently clashed with President Joe Biden’s administration over immigration issues. “We’ve heard the same thing over and over again, where we’re demonizing immigrants, we’re demonizing migrants. The bill “doesn’t touch” people who are awaiting immigration court dates, he said. Ingoglia defended the proposal, saying it would not affect immigrants who have “checked in with” federal officials after entering the country. ![]() It is a criminal-justice nightmare and, most importantly, it is a human-rights nightmare,” Jones said. “What we are about to vote on today is not only an economic nightmare, it is an education nightmare. Shevrin Jones, D-Miami Gardens, called the bill “cruel.” “My fear in this bill is that it’s going to cause a lot of hate and chaos in these hospitals, and these immigrants going through the immigration system now are not going to have access to their care,” Herrera said. Mary Herrera, whose family is from Guatemala, told the panel that her father, who picked blueberries in the Gainesville area, spent 16 years “fighting to become a citizen.” He returned to his home country for hernia surgery because he was “scared to receive care in this country or this state.” People of faith will be criminalized for exercising their faith.”ĭozens of people urged the Senate Rules Committee to reject the measure before the Republican-dominated panel voted 15-5 along party lines to approve the bill.Ĭritics also argued that the hospital data-collection requirement in the bill could discourage already-wary undocumented immigrants from seeking needed health care. Jesus was a refugee, and the Bible calls us to welcome strangers. “For us people of faith, we believe in mercy. This bill seeks to criminalize our God-given right to love our family,” Sousa-Lazaballet said. ![]() “This government overreach would literally make me a felon for giving a ride to my loved ones. citizen but lived in the state for 15 years as an undocumented immigrant. Opponents of the measure said Wednesday the changes could potentially put hundreds of thousands of Floridians - including landlords, lawyers and religious leaders - at risk of becoming criminals if they are caught with people who are in the country illegally.įelipe Sousa-Lazaballet, executive director of Hope Community Center in Apopka, said he is a U.S. Part of the proposal aimed at curbing human smuggling would make it a felony for people to “transport, conceal, harbor, or shield from detection” a person they know or “reasonably should know” has “entered the United States in violation of law and has not been inspected by the federal government since his or her unlawful entry.” And it would repeal a 2014 state law allowing undocumented immigrants to practice law in Florida. The bill, sponsored by Spring Hill Republican Blaise Ingoglia, also would require hospitals that receive Medicaid reimbursements to begin tracking how much money is spent on undocumented immigrants in emergency rooms. The proposal also would ban local governments from giving money to organizations to create identification cards for undocumented immigrants and would establish that Florida will not recognize driver’s licenses issued to undocumented immigrants in other states. The measure (SB 1718) would beef up sanctions against businesses that hire undocumented immigrants, allow state law-enforcement officials to conduct random audits of businesses’ compliance with the law and increase criminal penalties for human smuggling. Ron DeSantis’ crackdown on illegal immigration, drawing pushback from opponents who called it an attack on the state’s migrant community. – A key Florida Senate panel on Wednesday approved a measure aimed at expanding Gov.
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