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Politics

House Committee Passes Bill to Ban Sanctuary Cities in Florida

March 14, 2017 - 12:45pm

Florida lawmakers approved a controversial measure to crack down on Florida’s “sanctuary cities” for undocumented immigrants, green-lighting a measure to punish local officials for failing to comply with federal immigration rules on Monday.

The House Civil Justice and Claims Subcommittee voted in favor of HB 697, sponsored by Rep. Larry Metz, R-Yahala, by a 9-5 vote. 

The bill would line up Florida’s immigration policies with President Donald Trump's federal immigration crackdown.

Cities would be given 90 days to repeal their “sanctuary policies” to comply with federal immigration law. Local governments refusing to comply with federal law would be hit with fines as high as $5,000 a day.  

Cities and law enforcement agencies would also be barred from having laws or policies blocking communication with federal immigration agents. 

Taxpayers would have to foot the bill for enforcing federal immigration policies -- with no guarantee of federal reimbursement.

Florida sanctuary cities include larger municipalities like Tampa and Miami as well as smaller cities like DeLeon Springs, Deltona, Lake Worth, and Sunrise. Sanctuary counties include Broward, Hernando, Hillsborough, Palm Beach, Pasco and Pinellas counties.

This year is Metz’s second year trying to push the “sanctuary cities” bill through the state legislature.

Last year, the proposal sailed through the Florida House, but it did not fare as well in the Senate. The bill died after being blocked by former Sen. Miguel Diaz de la Portilla, who chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The tides could turn for HB 697 this year, though  -- that committee is now chaired by conservative Sen. Greg Steube, R-Sarasota, who co-sponsored the bill with Metz in the House last year.

The legislation has gotten pushback from immigration activists who argue sanctuary cities and counties don’t really exist in the Sunshine State.

“We have no sanctuary cities. We have no sanctuary counties in the state of Florida," said director of policy and advocacy for the Florida Immigrant Coalition Francesca Menes. "What we have are detainer policies, and most of them were passed by sheriffs."

Menes also expressed concerns that the legislation would lead to grave consequences like racial profiling, singling out Hispanics simply out of a fear that they might be undocumented immigrants.

“This bill ultimately cannot be enforced without legalizing racial profiling,” she said. “How do you know that I’m undocumented without actually targeting particular communities that are the most vulnerable and holding people on ICE requests?”

Metz’s bill will now head to the Local, Federal and Veterans Affairs Subcommittee for approval. 

 

 

Reach reporter Allison Nielsen by email at allison@sunshinestatenews.com or follow her on Twitter: @AllisonNielsen.

 

Comments

It is not racist to discern legal from illegal Could be any skin color

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