Marking a major shift in a state where 25 percent of the population is Hispanic and GOP leaders previously had taken a more welcoming approach to immigrants who do not have legal status, the Florida Legislature gave final approval Thursday to legislation that bans state and local government agencies from adopting so-called "sanctuary" policies limiting cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
The bill is believed to be the first time in recent decades that Florida has adopted legislation cracking down on illegal immigrants. In fact, just a few years ago the GOP-controlled Legislature passed a pair of bills aimed at helping younger immigrants who do not have legal status, including one that gave these individuals cheaper in-state college tuition.
But that was before President Donald Trump won office on a hardline immigration platform.
Trump's election ushered in a more aggressive pursuit of immigration enforcement efforts by GOP leaders, including in Florida. The House passed a sanctuary city bill last year, but it stalled in the Senate.
With Trump continuing to hammer on sanctuary cities and threatening to "dump" immigrants in communities with sanctuary policies, and new Gov. Ron DeSantis outspoken in favor of a sanctuary city ban, Senate bill sponsor Joe Gruters, R-Sarasota, was able to overcome opposition in his chamber and usher the legislation to DeSantis' desk.
"It's about making sure we keep our communities safe," Gruters said Thursday.
The legislation was met with intense opposition from Democrats and immigrant rights groups, including demonstrations this week in the capitol by protesters who chanted and unfurled banners in the House gallery and had to be forcibly removed.
Even former Gov. Jeb Bush weighed in, telling Politico that "this is one of those new political issues where it's designed to make a point rather than to solve a problem."
Bush's comments illustrate how far the GOP has shifted on immigration since his days leading the state.
Democrats echoed Bush, saying the legislation is about scoring political points rather than addressing a real problem. They said the bill's supporters had failed to demonstrate that local governments in Florida are hindering federal immigration enforcement efforts in any way.
"This is a proactive bill that panders to fear," said Sen. Darryl Rouson, D-St. Petersburg. "It panders to the specter of what is not."
The issue centers around deporting immigrants who do not have legal status and commit other crimes.
Gruters said he wants to ensure local law enforcement is honoring requests from the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency to hold illegal immigrants who have been arrested for other crimes.
Sen. David Simmons, R-Altamonte Springs, said the bill seeks to ensure those who commit "serious, heinous crime" are deported.
But Democrats worry the bill will sweep those who commit lesser crimes -- such as minor traffic violations -- into the immigration system and separate them from their families, including from children who may be American citizens. They also said it will spread fear in the immigrant community and deter individuals from interacting with government at all levels.
"Talking about fear, you know it goes back to breaking the law," Gruters said. "People should fear breaking the law. Because if you're not breaking the law and getting arrested you have nothing to fear."
The bill advanced through the Legislature mostly along party lines.
In the past, Hispanic Republicans from Miami played a big role in blocking the legislation.
But Sen. Anitere Flores, R-Miami, was the only Republican to vote against the bill in the Senate, which passed the legislation by a vote of 22-18 Thursday with every Democrat in opposition.
The bill's passage was delayed for days after Senate Democrats caught their GOP counterparts with their guard down and attached an amendment that exempted the state Department of Children and Families from complying with the legislation.
That incensed Republicans in the House, who insisted that the exemption -- which they said was akin to creating a sanctuary agency within state government -- be stripped out of the bill. Senate Republicans complied and took the DCF exemption out Thursday.
Gruters said agencies such as DCF aren't even impacted by the bill -- something Democrats disputed. He argued that legislation really only affects law enforcement agencies, but that he felt compelled to take the exemption out because of "the optics, the perception" that a state agency could adopt sanctuary policies.
"In order to land this plane this is the bill that we have to pass," Gruters said.
The House acquiesced to the Senate GOP's position on how to deal with government agencies that are found in violation of the bill. House leaders wanted to penalize government agencies that violate the law with a fine of up to $5,000 a day, but that was removed from the bill Thursday by the Senate.
The Senate version of the bill that passed Thursday also did not include a "civil cause of action" provision in the House bill that would have made government agencies liable if someone were injured by an illegal immigrant who had been allowed to remain in the country because of the agency's sanctuary policy. The Senate also rejected a House provision that would have made communities with sanctuary policies ineligible for state grant funding.
The legislation still allows the governor to initiate judicial proceedings against government officials who enact sanctuary policies.
The final debate on the sanctuary legislation stretched throughout the day Thursday, beginning in the Senate before moving to the House. It touched on everything from the racial dynamics of the bill, to public safety, rule of law and America's history as a land of immigrants.
Critics said the bill would lead to racial profiling. They called it fundamentally un-American.
Rep. Joseph Geller, D-Aventura, said that while many people like to argue that their ancestors came the right way, that's not necessarily true. He said his uncle was ill when he came to America and "lied to get into this country."
"This country unfortunately has had a history where people who came in on one boat turned around and complained about the people who were on the boat right behind them," Geller said. "The fact is we all came from some place ... let's show some kindness, let's show some compassion, let's stand by the higher principles that this country stands for."
Rep. Elizabeth Fetterhoff, R-DeLand, responded that "this bill isn't anti-immigrant and it's dangerously disingenuous to suggest otherwise."
"We are a nation of immigrants, proudly so," Fetterhoff said. "But we are also a nation of laws."
The bill cleared the House 68-45 Thursday and now goes to DeSantis, who made the issue a top campaign pledge and is eager to sign the legislation.
(c)2019 Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Fla.
