Amid heated debate over the illegal immigration and rights of undocumented immigrants, a Florida House panel approved a measure on Tuesday to crack down on “sanctuary cities.”
The bill (HB 697) by Rep. Larry Metz, R-Yalaha, would require the local governments and also universities to comply with federal immigration laws and would impose stiff penalties on those which declare themselves sanctuaries from immigration enforcement.
It is unclear what the proposal means for a county like Palm Beach County which said it already follows federal guidelines but has been called a sanctuary county by the state. Under the “Rule of Law Adherence Act”, the state or local governmental entities or law enforcement agencies would be fined up to $5,000 for each day if they are deemed to be out of compliance. The bill would require complying with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention requests, repealing the current sanctuary policies and also providing information about immigration violations to state authorities.
Democrats and immigrants rights groups criticized the bill, which was approved by 9-5 in the House Local, Federal & Veterans Subcommittee in a party-line vote. They said that the bill targets immigrant communities and would create a parallel immigration enforcement regime which Rep. Daisy Baez, D-Coral Gables, described as the smacking of big government, paranoia, and persecution.
Metz, who chairs the House Public Integrity & Ethics Committee, said that the bill simply brings state enforcement in line with federal law, enabling “seamless cooperation” between the local, state, and federal government agencies to enforce laws already on the books. Metz also stressed the distinction between the legal and illegal immigration.
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But Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith, D-Orlando, argued that while the undocumented immigrants presence in country may be illegal, it is a civil offense that does not warrant the proactive criminal prosecution.
Smith introduced six amendments which would have scaled back the bill, but the proposals were defeated in the succession of voice votes.
Baez offered emotional testimony against the bill, citing her immigration from the Dominican Republic in the year 1972 and a long journey from struggling to support her young family to success as a health-care executive in the South Florida.
Baez said that the move to consider the bill reflected a troubling trend of anti-immigration rhetoric at the federal level.
The American Civil Liberties Union took issue with a proposed requirement that the law-enforcement officers detain possible illegal immigrants for 48-hour periods after arrests on the separate charges to determine their immigration status.
However, the bill has received heavy support in the Republican-dominated House, drawing 23 co-sponsors and passing the Civil Justice & Claims Subcommittee earlier in this month. The bill must clear the House Judiciary Committee before it can go to the House floor.
A Senate version (SB 786), filed by the Sen. Aaron Bean, R-Fernandina Beach, has not been taken up in committees.
Mrudula Duddempudi.
