Immigrant groups are on the edges of their seats this week as a bill which could significantly impact their way of life makes its way through the Florida House of Representatives.
The legislation, HB 675, sponsored by Rep. Larry Metz, R-Yalaha, would punish “sanctuary cities” or counties who aren’t cooperating with federal immigration laws. If the legislation passes, these areas could face civil actions from the attorney general which could be as high as $5,000 per day. Local law enforcement officers would be required to detain illegal immigrants for the federal government, a provision federal courts say violate the 10th amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
Rep. Metz said the law would simply be a way to enforce local agencies to uphold federal law.
“This bill would basically say, as a matter of policy in the state of Florida, that we’re not going to tolerate state or local governmental agencies from refusing to cooperate with the enforcement of existing federal immigration law,” he explained.
Metz, grilled by his fellow lawmakers, said local law enforcement agencies would need to be directed by the feds before they would arrest undocumented immigrants.
"They're not going to go out looking for people," he told legislators on the House floor Tuesday.
This week, House legislators will vote on the law. The bill has made its way through House committees on a party-line vote. If the legislation passes, immigrants say it will bring a flurry of difficulties for Florida’s immigrant population. Metz temporarily postponed the legislation Tuesday evening.
Fear, they say, would be one of the biggest repercussions of passing HB 675.
“What this means is that our teachers will be forced to report undocumented students or their parents, while local local law enforcement will have to hold immigrants in detention only for being undocumented,” said Francesca Menes, Policy Director of the Florida Immigrant Coalition. “Can you imagine the fear this will generate in the community? Immigrants will be afraid to call to the Police to report a crime and parents will fear taking their kids to school.”
Rep. Metz points to an incident in San Francisco to drive the point home to pass the legislation. In July 2015, a 32-year old tourist was shot and killed by an illegal immigrant. San Francisco is a “sanctuary city,” commonly welcoming undocumented immigrants to the San Francisco Bay area.
The incident in California prompted Metz to push the legislation in the Sunshine State.
A report published Tuesday by the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida says at least 30 counties in Florida have policies in place to safeguard against detention requests from Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the federal agency responsible for detaining undocumented immigrants.
“Since trust and cooperation from the community is so important in protecting public safety, these localities have enacted policies to foster this trust and prioritize their resources on local public safety needs – not enforcing unfunded and unconstitutional federal requests,” said ACLU of Florida staff attorney Shalini Goel Agarwal, the lead author of the report.
The House is scheduled to vote on HB 675 on Wednesday.
Reach reporter Allison Nielsen by email at allison@sunshinestatenews.com or follow her on Twitter: @AllisonNielsen.
