Tallahassee
Opposition to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ immigration platform is not hard to see — or hear.
The hallways of Florida’s Capitol are bustling with advocates who oppose his proposals, their messages carried on children’s postcards to lawmakers and in coordinated campaigns led by faith leaders from South Florida and across the state.
In a recent development, opponents delivered criticism in brutal fashion in Spanish-language radio ads hitting two Republican lawmakers from Miami-Dade County, the persistent epicenter of Florida’s immigration wars. The White House also has chimed in.
DeSantis’ hard-line immigration push, a wedge of a larger fight he is picking with President Joe Biden, has been a dominating theme of Florida’s legislative session and divided lawmakers along bitter partisan lines.
As the chorus of opposition reaches a crescendo, Republican lawmakers are not caving to the pressure and continue to support measures that would create economic disincentives for companies that transport “unauthorized” migrants into Florida on behalf of the federal government.
The proposed measures, a key component of DeSantis’ immigration wish list as he seeks reelection, are being fast-tracked in the final weeks of the legislative session. Senate President Wilton Simpson on Wednesday told reporters he approved a procedural maneuver that now allows the bill to skip its last committee stop and head straight to the floor for final passage.
“We want to get it done,” Simpson said.
The bills are moving toward the finish line as DeSantis’ administration moves forward with a hearing on Thursday to consider a rule that would direct state child-care regulators to deny licenses to shelters that house unaccompanied migrant children for the federal government, unless there is a resettlement agreement between the state and the feds.
Ahead of that administrative hearing, nine Democrats from Florida’s congressional delegation — including Rep. Charlie Crist, who is seeking the Democratic gubernatorial nomination this year — sent a letter to DeSantis, urging his administration to rescind its immigration policies.
“Endangering unaccompanied children’s access to care from providers who are trained to ensure the safety and welfare of children in their custody and subject to rigorous oversight is needlessly cruel,” the letter said.
President Joe Biden’s press secretary Jen Psaki on Wednesday said the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, whose scope includes caring for unaccompanied migrant children, is “examining all legal options.”
“We’re obviously looking at legal options here, but I also would say this really flies in the face of what should be a moral view of anyone that ... the safe care of unaccompanied children should be a part of what we all want to be active participants in,” Psaki said.
An immigration policy combo
Much of the opposition over the immigration proposals focuses on the impact they might have on migrant children, particularly unaccompanied minors who are sent to Florida shelters as they wait to be reunited with their families or vetted sponsors.
In response to the criticism, the Republican bill sponsors have made changes to their proposals to clarify that their measures will not impact unaccompanied minors and people protected under the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program or Temporary Protected Status (TPS).
State Rep. John Snyder, R-Stuart, on Wednesday asked the House Judiciary Committee to approve an amendment to his bill (HB 1355) that he said would clarify the bill applies to individuals who are unlawfully present in the U.S. under federal immigration law.
He said the amendment would “unlink” the previous requirement that people needed to be authorized to legally work in the United States under federal immigration law, a broad definition that would have included unaccompanied minors. The panel approved the amendment.
The tweak has not been enough to satisfy concerns from immigrant and religious communities, including Catholics and Evangelicals who plan to protest the measure at the Capitol on Thursday.
Associate Pastor Nicole Gomez, with the Evangelical church Ignite Life Center in Gainesville, testified that in the past seven years, her church has been providing child welfare services to more than 200 unaccompanied children and over 600 foster children.
“We sit across from them. We know their stories and we have been blessed by them,” Gomez said. “Willy, a 3-year-old boy from Guatemala, who departed from his home country with his mom due to abuse from his father and crossed the border alone after he and his mom were separated along the way is a sample of that.”
Gomez said her church provided services to that 3-year-old, and worries the proposal would have prevented them from doing so.
Agustin Quiles, with the Florida Fellowship of Hispanic Bishops and Evangelical Institutions, urged lawmakers to vote against the measure, which he said went against their mission.
“We are coming here tomorrow,” Quiles said of Latino Evangelicals who are part of the organization that represents more than 2,500 churches in Florida. “Most of them, 95% of them are Republicans and they are doing everything to be here tomorrow.”
Snyder defended his proposal and said “nothing in this bill would prohibit the transportation of children,” regardless of their immigration status.
“We are simply saying that if a transportation company knowingly and willfully transports unauthorized aliens, they are not allowed to do business with the state and they are not allowed to do business with local governments,” he said.
Judge’s ruling about ‘sanctuary cities’
The proposed legislation would prohibit the state from contracting with transportation companies that bring immigrants into Florida on behalf of the federal government. The proposal would also expand the scope of a 2019 law that barred so-called sanctuary cities in the state, five months after a federal judge in Miami deemed portions of the law unconstitutional and tinged with “discriminatory motives.”
Snyder dismissed concerns about the ruling by saying on Wednesday that the federal judge’s ruling is being appealed.
“I believe that, from my view, we will have a favorable ruling on that,” he said.
State Rep. Michael Gottlieb, D-Davie, said he could not “wrap [his] head” around pushing a bill that would expand a statute that has been deemed unconstitutional.
The proposal also would mandate that Florida sheriffs enroll in a federal immigration program, known as 287(g), which trains and authorizes county-level officers to perform limited functions of federal immigration authorities.
Currently, 48 of 67 Florida sheriffs are taking part in the program. Miami-Dade, Orange and Palm Beach counties, which have some of the largest immigrant populations in the state, are among the 19 counties that have yet to enroll in the program. The bill would require them to do so by Jan. 1, 2023.
The House and Senate bills are identical.
Pressure on Miami Republican senators
Two Miami Republican senators are facing some pressure back home. Spanish-language radio ads are calling out Sens. Ileana Garcia and Ana Maria Rodriguez for not speaking against the governor’s immigration proposals.
“Senators, but above all mothers. How would you feel if these were your kids?” says the radio ad, paid for by the Florida Immigration Coalition Votes. “In this case, silence is not an option for a good mother.”
The ad also mentions Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski, who along with South Florida business leaders and some Cubans who came to Florida through Operation Pedro Pan in the 1960s, has been critical of DeSantis’ policies. Others who arrived in Operation Pedro Pan have come out in support of DeSantis’ policies.
“Political attack ads paid for by special interest groups aren’t my concern,” Rodriguez said. “My concern is the safety and security of our state and our communities. I won’t be intimidated into silence when now more than ever our country needs law and order and adherence to the rule of law. Right now, these children are being brought in whether we like it or not.”
Rodriguez said “we need to know who they are and account for them properly.”
Garcia echoed the same sentiment.
In a text message, she said the bill is a work in progress and that she is “not the least bit concerned or moved by presumptions in attack ads”
“My responsibility as senator is to make sure that everyone is safe and accounted for,” she said.
Miami Herald reporter Syra Ortiz-Blanes and Miami Herald Washington reporter Bryan Lowry contributed to this report.
This story was originally published February 23, 2022 7:04 PM.