Immigration Archives - WMNF 88.5 FM: Recent Episodes
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Activists are rallying outside the Pinellas County Jail tomorrow to protest the detention of Rosa Patishtan-Gomez, an undocumented mother of two.
This rally comes as many are set to rally against deportations and the Trump administration this weekend.
The 30-year-old mother of two and undocumented Mexican immigrant was detained on June 5th in Tampa.
“She doesn’t have a criminal record. I mean, this is someone who should be a allowed to stay with her children. You know, we need to stop separation of families,” Ruth Beltran, an organizer for the protest with the Tampa Bay Immigrant Solidarity Network, told WMNF.
She and others will be calling for Patishtan-Gomez to be returned to her children and family, and for deportation efforts to be stopped.
She says Gomez has no criminal history and called the plans “inhumane”
“I was completely outraged thinking of the lack of humanity with a young mother and her children,” Beltran said.
The protest is the same day as many across the country are planning to protest as part of “No Kings Day.”
Law enforcement in Florida has threatened to crack down on these protests, with Governor Ron DeSantis even saying drivers can hit protestors with their cars.
But still, Beltran says resistance is important.
“Remember that our protests have been peaceful and that we have the right to hit the streets and to have dissent against the actions of our government,” Beltran told WMNF.
Patishtan-Gomez’s hearing is set for Tuesday.
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“Hey Hey! Ho Ho! ICE has got to go,” was being chanted in downtown Tampa, Monday, as emotions ran high. The protest was held outside City Hall where community members gathered together for what they called a rapid response protest to stand with Los Angeles.
The afternoon started peaceful with lots of homemade signs representing the cause of fighting against ICE.
- Police arrived at the anti-ICE protest in downtown.Photo by Leah Burdick
- Man draws chalk on Pro-Ice side when tensions started to rise. Photo by Leah Burdick
- Both sides of the protest would meet in the middle of the street during red lights.Photo by Leah Burdick
- When the lights turned red, the protesters would stand on the cross walk.Photo by Leah Burdick
- Police had to defuse tension as they began to rise.Photo by Leah Burdick
- Protesters gathered in front of City Hall Photo by Leah Burdick
- A sign about how there are no illegal immigrants on stolen land.Photo by Leah Burdick
- A big stop ICE raid banner was held during the protest.Photo by Leah Burdick
- Anti-ICE protesters raised the Flag of Mexico.Photo by Leah Burdick
- Protesters outside City Hall to fight against ICE.Photo by Leah Burdick
- Protesters outside City Hall to fight against ICE.Photo by Leah Burdick
- Protesters see pro-ICE supporters arrive across the street.Photo by Leah Burdick
- Tampa bay student for a democratic society held a sign during the protest.Photo by Leah Burdick
- When the lights turned red, the protesters would stand on the cross walk.Photo by Leah Burdick
- Pro-ICE supporters at the protest in Downtown.Photo by Leah Burdick Victoria Hinckley is apart of TampaBay Student for a Democratic Society and she said she saw the protest on social media.
Hinckley said she came out with a few other members to protest against ICE and the raids happening all across the country.
“I am standing with the community folks out there kicking ICE out of their neighborhoods when they see them attacking their neighbors, ripping families apart, and deporting innocent people,” she said
A Puerto Rican women said she has the privilege to be here and be a citizen which is a privilege others don’t have and she wants them to have the American dream.
“Enough is enough I cant sit back and do nothing as families are being torn apart,” she said.
More and more people started to join in on the protest including some opposers.
Everything remained peaceful, for the most part, as a standoff happened on opposite sides of the streets.
One side yelling “Say it loud and say it clear… Immigrants are welcome here!” and the other side shouting pro-Trump.
There were more supporters for the anti-ICE side as there was for the other, but that didn’t stop tension from brewing.
“We voted for Trump for the mass deportation of illegals that entered our country under the Biden regime,” said Francisco. “I am an immigrant and I came here illegally. Im Mexican-American and I wanted to come here to show many immigrants support Trump.”
Every time the lights turned red, the protest would stop on the crosswalks and chant to the cars waiting at the light. When this started, that was when tensions started to rise.
The closer and closer that both sides got to each other, the more aggressive the language was.
For the most part the anti-ICE side had their own “security” who was trying to keep everyone from disturbing traffic or getting violent with the Pro-ICE side.
When emotions increase over a topic like this, it was clear to be hard to stop both sides from interacting. When the lights turned red they would all meet in the streets and get in each other face.
There were times when the face to face yelling got to much, and there were some physical altercations. When this started to happen, local police showed up to calm everyone down.
The protest was never stopped by police and everyone continued to chant for what they believed in.
“Peace not hate. What makes America great!”
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The Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society, along with other local resistance groups, organized what they called a rapid response protest at Tampa City Hall.
The anti-ICE protest occurred on Monday afternoon and was meant to show solidarity with Los Angeles after ICE raids stormed the city over the weekend.
Ashe, a member of the Resistance Support Collective, said their goal was to spread their message in a nonviolent way and prioritize the safety of those involved.
“The people here are not going to sit back and watch our immigrants and our undocumented people be taken away and disappear,” said Ashe.
Tampa Bay SDS said in a Facebook post that law enforcement was expected to be there, warning everyone that they could not guarantee that arrests wouldn’t occur.
Ashe said they needed to raise awareness and build a community to show that the people of Florida are against ICE raids happening in the state.
“We think that immigrants and undocumented individuals belong here and that everyone is welcome,” said Ashe. “No one is illegal, we all have a right to be here.”
They chose to take a stand and spread their message to stop ICE raids now.
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Deviant Libation brewery hosted an event for Love has No Borders last Friday to help the community with free repairs and kits to help reduce arrests involving immigration enforcement.
The event was called the Break Light Clinic and their mission was “strengthening resistance by building resilience,” according to a Facebook post by one of the volunteers. The post also shared how the community is coming together to reduce the risk of police and ICE interactions as much as possible.
“Being pulled over for a break light can end in an immigration enforcement action,” the flyer said.
The event had more than just free brake lights. There were Know Your Rights information, hygiene items, hard redux, English and Spanish language disaster preparedness kits, and free brake light installations.
Love Has No Borders said they stand with their community to fight against ICE and police looking to arrest immigrants in the neighborhoods during a roll of nationalist power structure.
Tim Odgen is the owner of Deviant Libation and he said as a brewery owner you have a reputation to be a part of the community. He said without community we have nothing. Not having time to volunteer or the funds, after opening a business, has been difficult for Odgen. He wanted to find a way to contribute and said he felt grateful for the partners of the event to trust his company to host.
“The event was a success. It went really well,” Odgen said after he explained he watched a few cars get help with their brake lights.
He said Love has no Borders and other volunteer groups spent their time outside in the parking lot, helping members with the installations and providing other support.
“It was overall very wholesome, a very wholesome thing. It felt very nice with the community and various organizations to come together and do right by the community,” he said.
Odgen said these brake light checks are happening around the county and it was great to see an organization like Love has No Borders jump on this and bring it to Tampa.
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Trump’s self-appointed “First Buddy” is leaving the office today, as Elon Musk marks his last day leading the president’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (aka DOGE).
“The legacy will be a dark legacy,” Orlando-based Rep. Maxwell Frost told WMNF about the effect the world’s richest man had on regular Americans. “They did what they said they would do. They would run the government like a company.”
Frost—the youngest legislator in Washington D.C.—was alluding to DOGE cuts to veterans services, social security, USAID, and more all initiated by Musk and a team that included a 19-year-old college freshman.
“This corporate slash and burn mentality is not how you run a country,” Frost added.
Elsewhere in the short conversation, the congressman talked about the state of the Democratic party, immigration, and government attacks on independent media like WMNF.
“Knowledge is power,” Frost said. “They don’t want people to have power.”
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Listen:Governor Ron DeSantis is touting the state’s partnership with the federal government to crack down on undocumented immigrants at the governor’s press conference at a Florida Highway Patrol station in Tampa on Monday.
DeSantis repeatedly noted the state’s involvement in 287(g), a controversial federal program that allows law enforcement more power on behalf of ICE to enforce federal immigration laws.
“If you look nationwide at all the law enforcement agencies that have entered in 287g agreements with the federal government, more than half of them are in one state. Guess what state that is? The state of Florida,” DeSantis said.
He also highlighted the Florida Highway Patrol as a key player in immigration enforcement in Florida.
“We had more than 100 FHP troopers sworn in as special deputy U.S. Marshals, which is even over and above the 287g that empowers state troopers to execute federal warrants, and remove dangerous criminal aliens from our communities,” DeSantis said.
Florida Highway Patrol Sergeant Joshua Malloy said FHP arrested 30 undocumented immigrants in just over an hour in Hillsborough County.
The operation was highlighted during a filmed FHP ride-along that aired on Fox News last week.
“While this was the first operation to be featured on national news, it was part of a much larger effort where state troopers work either independently or directly with the federal government to enforce state laws,” Malloy said.
In 2011 and 2012, separate DOJ investigations found racial profiling in the program. The Florida Immigrant Coalition says 287(g) threatens public safety and community trust.
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By Jim Saunders ©2025 The News Service of Florida
TALLAHASSEE — As legal wrangling continues in a lower court, Attorney General James Uthmeier’s office Wednesday asked a federal appeals court to at least temporarily allow the state to carry out a new law targeting undocumented immigrants who enter Florida.
Uthmeier’s office filed a 34-page motion at the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals seeking a stay of a preliminary injunction issued last week by U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams that blocked enforcement of the law. A stay, if granted, would allow enforcement while an underlying appeal of the injunction plays out.
The law, passed during a February special legislative session, created state crimes for undocumented immigrants who enter or re-enter Florida. The Republican-controlled Legislature said the law was aimed at helping carry out President Donald Trump’s policies on preventing illegal immigration.
In issuing the preliminary injunction, Williams said the law likely was preempted by federal immigration authority. Among other things, she pointed to the law (SB 4-C) requiring that violators go to jail.
“First, it gives state officials authority to prosecute illegal entry or reentry in cases where federal actors may choose not to,” the judge wrote. “Even if federal and state officials choose to commence parallel dual prosecutions under both laws, SB 4-C’s mandatory detention provision limits federal law enforcement discretion to recommend pre-trial release and obstructs federal courts’ ability to conduct proceedings requiring defendants’ presence. Relatedly, state officials are free to prosecute a charge under SB 4-C even while a federal immigration proceeding is underway, which may determine that the defendant may remain lawfully present under federal law.”
Uthmeier’s office quickly appealed the preliminary injunction and followed Wednesday by asking for a stay while the Atlanta-based appeals court considers the underlying issues. Wednesday’s motion, in part, disputed that the state law improperly infringed on federal immigration authority.
“To aid the United States in curbing illegal immigration within the state’s borders, SB 4-C criminalizes the entry into Florida of those who have illegally entered the United States,” the motion said. “That law tracks federal law to a tee. It also retains federal-law defenses and says nothing of who should be admitted or removed from the country.”
Uthmeier’s office last week also asked Williams for a stay of the injunction while the appeal is considered. But with plaintiffs given until next week to respond to that request, Uthmeier’s office argued in Wednesday’s filing at the appeals court that Williams’ delay in ruling effectively was a failure to provide a stay.
The Florida Immigrant Coalition, the Farmworker Association of Florida and two individual plaintiffs filed the lawsuit on April 2, alleging, in part, that the law violates what is known as the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution because immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility. The lawsuit names as defendants Uthmeier and local state attorneys.
Williams in early April also issued a temporary restraining order to block the law, before issuing the longer-lasting preliminary injunction. In addition to the stay issue, wrangling has continued in the district court about the possibility that Williams could hold Uthmeier in contempt.
Williams gave Uthmeier until Monday to “show cause” why he should not be held in contempt or sanctioned for allegedly violating the temporary restraining order. She cited an April 23 letter that Uthmeier sent to law-enforcement agencies “advising them, in part, that ‘no lawful, legitimate order currently impedes (their) agencies from continuing to enforce’ SB 4-C.”
Williams scheduled a May 29 hearing on the contempt or sanctions issue.
Uthmeier has contended that law-enforcement officers are not defendants in the lawsuit and, as a result, aren’t subject to the court’s order. His office also made that argument in Wednesday’s filing at the appeals court.
“In Florida, law-enforcement and prosecutorial agencies derive powers from separate constitutional and statutory sections,” Wednesday’s filing said. “None of those sections grant defendants (Uthmeier and state attorneys) control over law-enforcement officials, and Florida law is typically explicit when it grants such control. Further underscoring defendants’ lack of control, defendants cannot remove or discipline law-enforcement officers, nor do law-enforcement agencies draw their funds from defendants’ budgets.”
The filing said that if the appeals court doesn’t issue a stay of the injunction, it should narrow the injunction to cover only Uthmeier and state attorneys.
But in last week’s ruling, Williams blasted Uthmeier’s arguments on the scope issue, writing that the “logical outcome of defendants’ argument raises grave constitutional concerns.”
“To posit, as defendants do, that law enforcement may arrest individuals for conduct they know has no current legal basis to sustain criminal charges, is to upend Fourth Amendment jurisprudence in its entirety,” she wrote, referring to the amendment that protects people from unreasonable searches and seizures and generally requires such things as search warrants.
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Listen:A small Polk County political group is calling out the Trump administration in a big way.
The Polk County Progressive Democratic Caucus is calling on for a general strike as well as an advisory against travel to the United States because of the crackdown on undocumented migrants by the Trump administration.
Among other issues, the caucus says President Trump has ‘threatened the rights of all people’ with the ‘deportation of individuals without due process.
Jim Edwards is a board member of the Polk County Progressive Democratic Caucus.
He said the organization issued the travel advisory because people have been deported without due process, and that rule of law is being violated.
“The State Department has issued these advisories because of these very circumstances we now see in the United States happening in other countries. And so our organization, the Progressive Democrats, thought it would be prudent to issue a similar advisory,” Edwards told WMNF.
They’re also asking the country to prepare for a nationwide strike throughout the entire U.S. economy.
It’s a huge ask from a Florida political organization of only 30 people, but Edwards said it is necessary.
“In the face of a constitutional crisis, the only way that we’re going to change anything is by acts of the people,” Edwards said.
The boycott is in conjunction with ‘The General Strike,’ a New York-based initiative that is planning a widespread strike once 11 million Americans sign on.
President Donald Trump’s administration has made illegal immigration a top priority, with the White House recently saying it’ll pay immigrants one thousand dollars to leave the country.
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©2025 The News Service of Florida
After a federal judge Tuesday issued a preliminary injunction to block a new Florida immigration law, the state wants the ruling put on hold while it pursues an appeal. Attorney General James Uthmeier’s office Wednesday filed a motion seeking a stay of the preliminary injunction issued by U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams. The law, passed during a February special legislative session, created state crimes for undocumented immigrants who enter or re-enter Florida. In issuing the preliminary injunction, Williams said it likely is preempted by federal immigration laws. Uthmeier’s office late Tuesday filed a notice of appealing the injunction to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. It followed Wednesday with the motion asking Williams to issue a stay. “That law does nothing more than exercise Florida’s inherent sovereign authority to protect its citizens by aiding the enforcement of federal immigration law,” the motion said. The plaintiffs in the case — the Florida Immigrant Coalition, the Farmworker Association of Florida and two individual plaintiffs — will have until May 14 to respond to the motion, according to a court docket. In issuing the preliminary injunction, Williams pointed to issues such as the law (SB 4-C) requiring that violators go to jail. “First, it gives state officials authority to prosecute illegal entry or reentry in cases where federal actors may choose not to,” the judge wrote. “Even if federal and state officials choose to commence parallel dual prosecutions under both laws, SB 4-C’s mandatory detention provision limits federal law enforcement discretion to recommend pre-trial release and obstructs federal courts’ ability to conduct proceedings requiring defendants’ presence. Relatedly, state officials are free to prosecute a charge under SB 4-C even while a federal immigration proceeding is underway, which may determine that the defendant may remain lawfully present under federal law.”
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Listen:May 1st is May Day, and citizens across Tampa Bay are planning on protesting the Trump administration.
In St. Petersburg, protestors will gather on two I-275 overpasses during rush hour.
From 4:30 until 6 in the evening, demonstrators will protest the Trump administration’s actions they call anti-democratic and illegal.
Amy Weintraub is with the League of Women Voters of the St. Petersburg Area.
“It feels really good to be surrounded by people who have the same values, and who, you know, know that basic democratic principles like free and fair elections and rule of law need to be upheld,” Weintraub told WMNF.
She says the May Day date is not only to uphold the connection to the labor movement, but also serves another purpose.
“The word May Day, the compound word mayday, which means help in nautical terms – we are asking for help. We are asking Congress for help in standing up against the dictatorship that Trump is attempting to install.” Weintraub said.
Across the bay at the University of South Florida, Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society will be protesting an upcoming collaboration with USF police and ICE.
On Saturday, West Central Florida Labor Council will host a May Day-themed protest against Trump’s immigration and worker policies in Tampa’s Centennial Park.
Details:St. Pete Rush Hour #Resistance
Thursday, May 1st, 4:30pm-6:00pm
I-275 overpasses in St. Petersburg at 27th Avenue North and at 54th Avenue North
Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society
Thursday May 1st at 3:30 pm
Rally to demand no ICE on USF campus, no collaboration between USFPD and ICE, protections for immigrant and international students, and a sanctuary campus now!
50th and Fowler
West Central Florida Labor Council
Saturday, May 3rd
Centennial Park, Tampa
4:00 PM
Hosted by the West Central Florida Labor Council
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By Dara Kam 17 hrs ago ©2025 The News Service of Florida
TALLAHASSEE — President Donald Trump emerged as the biggest winner Thursday as the Republican-controlled Legislature and Gov. Ron DeSantis approved a suite of measures aimed at strengthening enforcement of illegal immigration.
Quickly signed into law by the governor, the wide-ranging plan toughens penalties for crimes committed by undocumented immigrants; creates a statewide immigration enforcement panel; imposes the death penalty for undocumented immigrants who commit first-degree murder or rape children; and makes it a state crime for undocumented immigrants to enter the state.
“Today the state has passed the strongest legislation to combat illegal immigration of any state in the country,” DeSantis, flanked by Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, and House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, told reporters.
A part of the main bill (SB 2-C) creates a State Board of Immigration Enforcement made up of the governor, agriculture commissioner, attorney general and state chief financial officer. The board will coordinate immigration enforcement activities with federal officials and dole out $250 million in grants to local law enforcement agencies to assist federal enforcement efforts. Decisions made by the board would have to be unanimous.
Senate sponsor Joe Gruters, a Sarasota Republican who is close to Trump, said the bill provides what the president needs to strengthen enforcement of illegal immigration, an issue that is a major plank of the president’s second White House agenda.
“In short, senators, President Trump is asking for more badges, more detention beds for criminals awaiting deportation, and a laser focus on catching criminal illegals who violate our laws,” Gruters said before the Senate voted 27-10 along party lines to approve the bill.
Democrats focused debate Thursday on a part of the bill that will eliminate in-state tuition rates for undocumented immigrant students in colleges and universities. Providing the tuition break was a priority of Republican legislative leaders a decade ago.
With Republican supermajorities in both chambers, Democrats futilely attempted to amend the bill to allow students who have already started studying at colleges and universities to pay in-state tuition rates until they graduate.
“We are undermining the investment our state has made in these students, because they are our future leaders. They are our innovators,” Rep. Marie Woodson, a Hollywood Democrat who was born in Haiti, argued. “They are in our communities. They are not committing any crimes. They are in schools trying to have a better tomorrow.”
But Rep. Kiyan Michael, R-Jacksonville, implored lawmakers to pass the bill. She said her son, Brandon, 21, was killed in a 2007 car crash caused by an undocumented immigrant who had been deported twice.
“We know we have to do something,” Michael said. “We have to do it now.”
The issue is “personal for me,” Michael added.
“I’m a real mama who misses her child every day,” she said.
The House voted 85-30 to pass the bill, which also includes significant changes to a 2023 law that created the “Unauthorized Alien Transport Program” within the state Division of Emergency Management. Lawmakers in 2023 steered $12 million to the agency, bolstering DeSantis’ efforts to relocate undocumented immigrants to places such as Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts.
Under the new law, the state agency could only transport migrants out of the state if federal immigration officials “specifically request assistance,” cover the costs of the travel and oversee the operations.
“The governor can no longer on his own go and grab people somewhere and fly them off to another jurisdiction anymore, correct?” Senate Minority Leader Jason Pizzo, D-Sunny Isles Beach, asked during debate on the proposal. “He can’t do anything related to illegal immigration outside of the state of Florida, to be clear, unless he’s given permission to do so by the federal government.”
Sen. Randy Fine, a Brevard County Republican who helped shepherd the legislation, said the plan requires the governor’s office to cooperate with federal officials.
“The entire premise of the bill that we have designed is that we are in a supporting role to the federal government, that we are here to help Donald Trump with his illegal immigration agenda, not to get in the way of it,” Fine said.
Another bill (SB 4-C) seeks to impose mandatory death sentences for undocumented immigrants convicted of first-degree murder or raping children. The new law also makes it a crime for undocumented immigrants over age 18 to “knowingly” enter Florida “after entering the United States by eluding or avoiding examination or inspection by immigration officers.”
Critics of the plan argued that the death penalty provision is unconstitutional and, along with other parts of the legislative plan, will be challenged in court.
“All of this has been driven by the majority’s desire to please President Donald Trump. They have no regard for the state Constitution, no regard for the federal Constitution, at this point. They don’t care that many of the issues covered in this bill are currently on appeal with the United States Supreme Court. They are moving forward because they serve one master, and that is Donald J. Trump,” House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell, D-Tampa, told reporters following the House’s 85-29 vote in favor of the criminal issues bill.
DeSantis also signed what is known as a memorial (SM 6-C) that seeks guidance from the secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security about immigration enforcement efforts. Memorials are resolutions that are not laws.
The approvals of the legislation Thursday culminated three special sessions in two weeks on the immigration issue. The efforts got off to a rocky start last month after DeSantis called a special session without backing from Perez and Albritton.
Perez and Albritton on Jan. 27 convened the special session called by DeSantis but snubbed the governor by quickly ending the session. They then quickly launched their own session and passed a measure that would have given Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson control of immigration enforcement — an idea that DeSantis criticized.
DeSantis and legislative leaders, along with their allies, publicly sniped over the plans before reaching agreement on the measures that passed Thursday. Perez and Albritton called the third special session Monday.
“We all had one common goal, and the goal was to solve for the crisis of illegal immigration through the vision of President Trump. We may have had different ways of how to get there but at the end of the day, those are discussions that were healthy, or necessary and make democracy way better,” Perez said at the bill signing.
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On February 12, MidPoint hosted Sylvia Acevedo, Dir. of Refugee Wellness Programs, and Abdel Dana Roca, Dir. of Refugee Employment & Case Management from the Gulf Coast Jewish Family & Community Services (GCJFCS) Refugee Resettlement project. They discussed the status of their programs now that the Trump administration has ended all refugee admissions to the United States (other than admission for white South Africans,) and has rescinded funding for the resettlement programs that are still needed, especially for the newly admitted refugees who arrived before the Trump administration’s Stop Order.
Gulf Coast JFCS’s refugee department works to help newly arrived refugees integrate into their new communities by providing housing, employment assistance, and cultural orientation. They serve refugees from many different countries, all of whom are fleeing persecution and violence in their home countries. In recent years, their project has assisted large numbers of refugees from Afghanistan who had assisted the U.S. military in fighting the Taliban and then were endangered by the abrupt withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan. They also assisted many Ukrainians who fled the violence after Russia invaded Ukraine and refugees from African areas of conflict.
Refugees Are Legal ImmigrantsOur guests emphasized that all of their clients are LEGAL immigrants to the United States, and all have undergone a rigorous vetting process to ensure they are eligible to be admitted to the U.S. However, now they are scared they may be targets of indiscriminate ICE round-ups and deportations and worried that the resources that they had counted on to assist them in building a life in their new country will not be available.
What Now?The future of the GCJFCS refugee resettlement program is now in flux since the stop order. Though their other sources of funding have not been canceled…yet, will they be able to sustain their programs into a future where they may not have new refugee clients to assist? It remains an open question. In the meantime, however, they are working through the current funding cuts, adapting their staff and more limited resources to the changes, and doing their best to continue to provide the assistance necessary to serve their current clients. They are looking for landlords with properties willing to affordably rent to refugee families and recruiting local families who can take in refugee families and mentor them to help acclimate them to their new country.
If you can assist GCJFCS with these measures with a financial donation, or if you wish to volunteer to assist or mentor families registering children for school and applying for federal benefits, or if you have items of furniture or household goods to help them build a home, contact GCJFCS directly for more information.
The post What About Refugee Resettlement Now? appeared first on WMNF 88.5 FM.
By Dara Kam ©2025 The News Service of Florida
TALLAHASSEE — Florida lawmakers on Tuesday launched a third special session aimed at increasing enforcement of illegal immigration, putting aside an intraparty clash with Gov. Ron DeSantis over plans to help carry out one of President Donald Trump’s top priorities.
Lawmakers are slated to vote Thursday on bills that include a number of changes to a measure that the House and Senate passed during a special session two weeks ago. The changes include doing away with a key sticking point that DeSantis said doomed the earlier measure.
The revised plan scrapped a proposal that would have made Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson — a potential 2026 gubernatorial candidate who is close to Trump — the state’s chief immigration officer.
Part of the new plan (HB 1-C and SB 2-C) instead would create a State Board of Immigration Enforcement made up of the governor, agriculture commissioner, attorney general and state chief financial officer. The board would coordinate immigration enforcement activities with federal officials and dole out $250 million in grants to local law enforcement agencies to assist federal enforcement efforts. Decisions made by the board would have to be unanimous.
The requirement for unanimity — which Senate President Ben Albritton called a “consensus” model — coincides with a reshuffling of the Florida Cabinet.
Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis submitted his resignation to run in a special election for a congressional seat, and former Attorney General Ashley Moody left her post after DeSantis appointed her to replace former U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, who became Trump’s secretary of state. DeSantis said he intends to appoint his chief of staff, James Uthmeier, as attorney general, and he also will name Patronis’ successor.
Simpson’s vote will be critical for approval of the grants, which would be used to reimburse expenses incurred by local agencies supporting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement efforts. The grants also could be used to provide $1,000 bonuses for specially trained local law enforcement officers who would participate in federal immigration task forces.
“This is just a better model. It’s going to work better. That’s part of the consensus-building process. This is a story of ideas, and what we have assembled are what we believe are the best ideas to be able to support President Trump in his efforts to work on illegal immigration in this country,” Albritton, R-Wauchula, told reporters after a brief floor session Tuesday.
The proposal also would make significant changes to a 2023 law that created the “Unauthorized Alien Transport Program” within the state Division of Emergency Management. Lawmakers in 2023 steered $12 million to the agency, bolstering DeSantis’ efforts to relocate undocumented immigrants to places such as Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts.
Under the new plan, the state agency could only transport migrants out of the state if federal immigration officials “specifically request assistance,” cover the costs of the travel and oversee the operations.
Senate bill sponsor Joe Gruters, a Sarasota Republican who is a strong Trump ally, downplayed the significance of the proposed change.
“President Trump has already closed the borders. There’s no need for the political-type events like that anymore, and so it’s completely irrelevant,” Gruters told reporters Tuesday. “Now, it’s about making sure we do what’s right under what President Trump wants in coordination, collaboration. Everything that we do in this bill is working with them (the Trump administration).”
The measure would require sheriffs and county jail administrators to cooperate with federal immigration officials and participate in what is known as the 287(g) program and report undocumented immigrants to federal authorities.
The bill would impose $5,000 fines and suspension from office for county or municipal officials who refuse to comply with immigration detainers issued by a federal agency.
The proposal also would increase penalties and require pretrial detention for undocumented immigrants who commit forcible felonies, something already required for other serious violent crimes.
The plan also would steer $35.6 million to Simpson’s office to beef up border enforcement in the state and another $12 million to his agency to pay for 84 enforcement positions.
The measure also would do away with in-state tuition for undocumented immigrant students.
A separate bill (HB 3-C and SB 4-C) would make it a state crime to be in the country illegally and would impose the death penalty on undocumented immigrants who commit murders or rape children.
House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, said Tuesday that the legislation was a “compromise” with DeSantis that “was in line with President Trump’s vision to solve the crisis” of illegal immigration.
“We are going to have an open line of communication with the federal government. We have put money aside to help with the illegal immigration crisis that we have. The truth is that we have made Florida a safer place by coming to an agreement on this bill,” Perez told reporters Tuesday morning at a Florida Chamber of Commerce event.
But House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell, D-Tampa, said the bill won’t help Floridians.
“The immigration system really is, we can acknowledge, broken. But it requires federal solutions. It requires federal funding, more federal judges, more agents for ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement). So, it just begs the question of how is the Florida Legislature and the governor coming up with nearly $300 million to address this problem?” Driskell told reporters.
Perez and Albritton on Monday night called this week’s special session. The accord between the GOP legislative leaders and the governor over the immigration proposal marked a significant shift after a dispute over how to handle the issue.
Lawmakers on Jan. 27 convened in a special session called by DeSantis to take up immigration policy and other issues. Albritton and Perez described DeSantis’ call for a special session “premature” and, in a rebuke, quickly closed the session. They then launched their own special session and passed a measure that included giving Simpson authority over immigration enforcement.
DeSantis said he would veto the measure, branding it as a “pro-amnesty bill, and likening Simpson’s proposed oversight of immigration enforcement to “the fox in the henhouse” — an assertion that undocumented immigrants work in the agriculture industry.
Albritton said Tuesday that Simpson, a former Senate president, and his family had received death threats amid the heated debate over the plans.
“Whatever our disagreements, there is no place for political violence in our state. There is no excuse for the actions of those who, for their careless keyboard courage, have intentionally inflamed the public and incited violence against a good man and his family. The threats against President Simpson must stop now. These threats are un-American. They’re just flat wrong,” Albritton said.
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President Donald Trump started his second term with a deluge of controversial executive orders – sparking local outrage among some Tampa youth.
About 100 people gathered at Tampa City Hall Wednesday to protest mass deportations and the order to end birthright citizenship.
“End Mass Deportation….End Mass Deportation….”
That’s 17-year-old Natalea Madeiros chanting through the megaphone.
“Nobody deserves to come somewhere seeking a better future and a better way of life, and be expected to be kicked out. You don’t do that anywhere else. Like, we’re supposed to love our neighbor. We’re such a God-fearing Christian country like everyone claims, love your neighbor.”
Madeiros was one of many who demonstrated against the recent effort to crack down on undocumented immigrants.
Nicole, who did not want to share her last name is 20 years old and organized the protest.
“When I was born my mom was in the process of getting citizenship. She wasn’t yet married to my father who was an American citizen, but I was born before all that. So, it’s just something that touches home with me.”
Under the order, children born on or after February 19, 2025, in the U.S. must have at least one parent who is a Legal Permanent Resident or a U.S. citiz en.
Although a federal judge blocked the order ending birthright citizenship, Trump says he may have the support of the U-S Supreme Court.
Momo is a 25-year-old citizen.
She says her family, who sell vegetables, live in fear amid threats of mass deportation.
“I have some uncles and aunts, they actually sell here in Tampa at the flea market, but they’re not going to be showing up no more due to their being scared of deportation.”
Event organizers say another group of like-minded youth in Orlando held a similar rally, but neither event claimed to be involved with any organizations; they just wanted to make their voices heard.
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Led by its Republican supermajority, Florida’s state legislature gaveled in for a special session last Monday and managed to pass an immigration bill that aims to help President Donald Trump make good on his agenda.
As The Skinny host Mitch Perry reported, “The plan includes boosting criminal penalties for undocumented immigrants, ending in-state tuition rates for undocumented-immigrant students and creating a state ‘chief immigration officer’ within the state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.”
The bill, however, was trashed by Gov. DeSantis, who vowed to veto the bill when it eventually gets sent to his desk.
Sen. Joe Gruters, a Sarasota Republican who sponsored the bill, said he’s holding up just fine in the aftermath.
“All is good from my standpoint.” Grueters told WMNF, pointing to proposed penalties outlined in an immigration bill passed during the session. “This bill is 100% to help Donald Trump in his mission.”
Still, Grueters is unsure if the Florida Senate will be able to override DeSantis’ veto. “I don’t know exactly what will happen,” he added.
Grueters, however, knows the GOP will do what it has to do to advance its conservative agenda. “Families have squabbles, but I am confident we will come back together,” he added.
Miami Rep. Ashley Gant, an attorney who practiced immigration law, also joined us on-air to discuss the immigration bill passed by her Republican colleagues.
She said immigration is a federal issue, and lamented the bill’s half-a-billion-dollar price tag.
“The fact of the matter is that we can work in tandem with the federal government, but a lot of the things we saw in the bill are tantamount to scare tactics,” Gant, who voted against the bill, added. “The bill was a lot of duplication of what already exists.”
She said the quarrel between state Republicans is none of her business and said she’s more interested in working for elderly constituents making tough financial decisions, or others trying to navigate the housing crisis.
Gant, a self-described “eternal optimist,” is heartened to see the legislature start to become more independent. “Now we can represent the people instead of being an arm or extension of the governor’s office,” she added.
Other guests on the program included Grace VanHooser, a J.D. Candidate at Florida International University College of Law, who discussed her work on immigration rights.
To close out the show, Brad Ashwell, All Voting is Local’s Florida State Director, joined in to help set the table for an upcoming fight over changes to how citizens can get constitutional amendments on the ballot.
Listen to the show via Apple Music, TuneIn, and Spotify.
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By Jim Saunders ©2025 The News Service of Florida
TALLAHASSEE — Saying they are trying to help President Donald Trump crackdown on illegal immigration, Florida’s Republican-controlled Legislature late Tuesday passed a plan that includes boosting criminal penalties for undocumented immigrants, ending in-state tuition rates for undocumented-immigrant students and creating a state “chief immigration officer.”
The bill, which passed in a special legislative session, also would lead to spending about $500 million, with much of the money going to local law enforcement agencies, and would require the death penalty for undocumented immigrants who commit crimes such as first-degree murder.
The final 84-page version emerged after two days of conflict between Republican legislative leaders and Gov. Ron DeSantis about what should pass. Republicans on both sides of the dispute tried to tie themselves to Trump — with the final version of the bill titled the “Tackling and Reforming Unlawful Migration Policy (TRUMP) Act.”
House bill sponsor Lawrence McClure, R-Dover, said lawmakers needed to address an illegal immigration “crisis.”
“We have to take action. We have to do something, and we are going to get the crisis under control in this state,” McClure said moments before the House gave final passage to the bill.
The Senate voted 21-16 to approve the bill, while the House passed it 82-30. Attention quickly turned to whether DeSantis would veto the bill, after lawmakers rejected his proposed immigration changes.
As lawmakers debated the measure, DeSantis criticized the bill during an interview on Fox News.
“It’s a weak bill, but they named it the Trump Act. So they think by putting the name of a strong president on a weak bill, that somehow that is going to pull the wool over the eyes,” DeSantis told Fox News host Laura Ingraham.
He added, “We’ve got to be strong. We cannot let these guys squish out on this issue.”
But House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, fired back, saying lawmakers had passed “the most-conservative, the most-aggressive and the most-effective immigration bill in the country.”
“Of course, you’re going to have your handful of politicians, a small group of activists and a lot of paid bots on social media trying to gaslight you,” Perez told the House. “But we know that truth matters, and simply saying that something is terrible over and over doesn’t actually make it true. Threatening others to get your way isn’t leadership, it’s immaturity.”
Sen. Tom Wright, R-New Smyrna Beach, was among lawmakers who expected DeSantis to veto the measure.
“We’ll be back again,” Wright said when asked if he expected DeSantis to call another special session. “We’re just beginning.”
Six Senate Republicans joined Democrats in opposing the bill (SB 2-B). They were Sen. Jennifer Bradley, R-Fleming Island; Sen. Alexis Calatayud, R-Miami; Sen. Jay Collins, R-Tampa; Sen. Erin Grall, R-Vero Beach; Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, R-Spring Hill; and Sen. Jonathan Martin, R-Fort Myers. Rep. Mike Caruso, R-Delray Beach, was the only Republican who voted against the bill in the House.
Democrats focused on issues such as part of the bill that would repeal a 2014 law that allows undocumented immigrant students to pay cheaper in-state tuition rates at Florida colleges and universities if they meet certain criteria. Democrats said many of those students — commonly known as “dreamers” — have lived in Florida most of their lives and went through the school system.
“Education is not a privilege. It’s a right,” said Rep. Marie Woodson, a Hollywood Democrat who was born in Haiti. “Let’s empower dreamers to realize their full potential.”
But Sen. Randy Fine, R-Brevard County, said the 2014 law allows undocumented immigrants to pay lower tuition than people who live in other states and attend Florida colleges and universities.
“We don’t believe illegal immigrants should pay less to go to colleges and universities than Americans,” Fine said.
DeSantis on Jan. 13 called a special session to address immigration and a series of other issues. But he hadn’t reached an agreement with Perez and Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, and they quickly objected to the session.
In a rare rebuke to DeSantis, the House and Senate convened the DeSantis-called special session Monday morning, adjourned and then opened their own special session. They effectively rejected DeSantis’ immigration proposal and immediately started moving forward with a legislative plan. They made a series of changes to the plan before passing it on Tuesday.
Senate sponsor Joe Gruters, R-Sarasota, and other supporters of the bill said it focuses on targeting undocumented immigrants who are criminals and that it would carry out executive orders Trump signed after his inauguration last week.
“With this bill, Florida answers the call,” House Majority Leader Tyler Sirois, R-Merritt Island, said. “We will do our part.”
Among other things, the bill would toughen criminal penalties for undocumented immigrants who commit crimes. That includes requiring people designated as “dangerous unauthorized alien” offenders to serve full prison sentences without the possibility of early release.
A heavily debated change Tuesday would require death sentences for undocumented immigrants who commit capital crimes, such as first-degree murder and sexual battery on a child under age 12. Democrats repeatedly questioned the constitutionality of such a requirement, pointing to legal precedents about the role of juries in deciding whether defendants face the death penalty.
The bill also would make changes aimed at increasing cooperation of local law enforcement agencies with federal immigration-enforcement efforts. One part would offer $1,000 bonuses to local law enforcement officers who participate in federal “at-large task force operations.”
Democrats, however, raised concerns that the bill could lead to immigration-enforcement efforts in places such as schools and churches.
One part of the bill that drew attention would create an Office of Immigration Enforcement within the state Department of Agriculture and Consumers Services and make Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson the state’s chief immigration officer. DeSantis objected to giving Simpson authority over immigration issues.
Caruso and Ingoglia filed a series of bills Sunday that would have helped carry out DeSantis’ immigration proposal. Caruso on Tuesday called the legislative plan a “facade,” while Ingoglia also questioned it.
“When I read this piece of legislation — nobody’s telling me to say this — I just do not think that this is going to the heart of the problem and I think it’s going to create more problems,” Ingoglia said.
But Gruters said it would help Trump’s immigration-enforcement efforts.
“Yes, it’s not the end-all solution,” Gruters said. “I think that this is a good policy for the state of Florida, and at the end of the day, go back to our president, Donald J. Trump. His main focus is immigration. His main focus is to try to do this right. And what we have in this bill, we’ve created not the perfect plan but … a very good plan for the state of Florida to follow.”
— News Service senior writer Dara Kam contributed to this report.
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By Dara Kam ©2025 The News Service of Florida
TALLAHASSEE — After snubbing a plan by Gov. Ron DeSantis in a rare show of Republican dissonance, the GOP-controlled Legislature on Monday advanced a $500 million proposal aimed at carrying out President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.
The legislation, dubbed the “Tackling and Reforming Unlawful Migration Policy (TRUMP) Act,” would do away with in-state tuition breaks at colleges and universities for undocumented immigrants, give state Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson the power to enforce immigration policies and steer hundreds of millions of dollars to law-enforcement agencies to support Trump’s policies.
The House and Senate rolled out the measures on the first day of a special legislative session, with the bills veering widely from proposals filed Sunday by a group of DeSantis’ legislative allies. DeSantis on Jan. 13 called a special session, angering legislative leaders. They opened the DeSantis-called special session Monday morning, quickly adjourned it and then opened their own special session.
Monday’s battle over the immigration issues was a stark departure from the GOP’s unity that’s been the hallmark of DeSantis’ relationship with the Legislature over the past six years and presented a show of strength by new House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, and new Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula.
DeSantis quickly shredded the legislative proposals — and legislative leaders — in a video and lengthy statement posted on X, accusing them of having “gutted” critical portions of his plan.
“We had a series of very, very strong proposals. While they included some of the things we said, most of the stuff that’s really, really going to be meaningful was not in the proposal put forward by leaders of the Florida Legislature, the Republican leaders,” DeSantis said in the video. “You have to have a requirement that state and local entities actively cooperate with immigration enforcement federally. Otherwise, none of this stuff is going to amount to much.”
Perez and Albritton rapidly punched back in a statement attacking the governor’s analysis of their proposals (SB 2-B and HB 1B), which came after Trump signed immigration executive orders following his Jan. 20 inauguration.
“The governor did not read President Trump’s executive orders before calling a special session. As a matter of fact, they didn’t exist. And, it would appear he didn’t read SB 2B/HB 1B before issuing a response on social media,” the leaders’ statement said. “It’s easier to fool someone than to convince them they were fooled. We aren’t trying to fool anybody. We stand on the Constitution, and the truth.”
The bills would steer $20 million to Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson’s department to create the Office of State Immigration Enforcement. The plans also would earmark $100 million for grants to local law enforcement agencies. The grants would be handled by the new office, which would have until March 1 to come up with a process to administer the money.
The bills also would set aside $375 million to carry out recommendations from the new immigration office aimed at assisting state and local law enforcement agencies to implement Trump’s policies. Money could be used for such things as grants for law-enforcement training, grants to local law-enforcement agencies to retain or attract employees and grants to pay costs incurred by local law-enforcement agencies complying with White House’s immigration policies.
The bills, which could get final approval as early as Tuesday, would effectively make Simpson, a former Senate president who is considered to be a possible contender in the GOP race for governor in 2026, the state’s immigration czar. As Florida’s“chief immigration officer,” Simpson would act as the state’s “liaison” with the Trump administration on the issue, House bill sponsor Lawrence McClure, R-Dover, told a committee Monday.
Simpson is a staunch ally of Trump, who made a crackdown on immigration a pillar of his re-election campaign.
“Simpson, he is one of the best and the brightest that we have in this state. He will not only do an incredible job, he will exceed all expectations in making sure that this job is done correctly,” Senate bill sponsor Joe Gruters, a Sarasota Republican who has Trump’s endorsement in the 2026 race for state chief financial officer, said before the Senate Appropriations Committee voted 12-6 in favor of the bill.
Simpson praised the effort on social media.
“With a mandate from the American people, @POTUS has an aggressive agenda to secure our border, combat illegal immigration and deport criminals. @Sen_Albritton @Daniel_PerezFL are working to ensure he has the support and resources to get the job done here in the Sunshine State,” he tweeted.
But DeSantis also swiped at giving Simpson the power, saying it “unconstitutionally removes authority to enforce the law from the governor to a lower-level cabinet agency, the Department of Agriculture, that does not oversee state law enforcement and whose stakeholders often oppose enforcement measures.”
Giving enforcement power to the Department of Agriculture “puts the fox in charge of the hen house,” the governor’s X post said.
His comments drew the wrath of Perez and Albritton, whose statement said DeSantis “leveled serious and inappropriate insults at his fellow Cabinet officer, local law enforcement officers, and our agricultural community.”
“This statement is completely untrue, and the governor knows that. Under our bill, the governor will maintain all of his emergency powers,” the leaders said, noting that Simpson’s office has a law-enforcement division with 200 officers. “There is absolutely nothing unconstitutional about the separation of powers and the advancement of immigration enforcement at a constitutionally-created Cabinet-level agency other than the governor.”
DeSantis also took aim at the legislative measures for not providing “meaningful assistance to federal efforts,” a view which Perez and Albritton called “a blatant lie” about Florida law-enforcement officers.
Their proposal would require all sheriffs to enter written agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to help identify and detain criminal illegal immigrants, the leaders’ statement said.
“Law enforcement is our partner, not our enemy. It’s no wonder the governor’s proposal included criminal penalties for law enforcement. His statement clearly suggests he doesn’t trust the boots on the ground, but we do,” they said.
DeSantis’ remarks raised the possibility that he could veto what the Legislature passes and force lawmakers to return for another special session.
Republicans have supermajorities in both the House and the Senate, which means they could override a veto if the GOP caucus held together as a bloc.
“Well, I guess the boxing gloves are on. Clearly,” said Rep. Mike Caruso, a Delray Beach Republican who sponsored several of the bills that were filed Sunday and aligned more with DeSantis’ plan. Those bills were not heard Monday.
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It has been one week into the farcical administration of POTUS-47 and the pushback has been swift.
Community Speaks January 27, 2025
Twenty-two states have filed a lawsuit against his birthright citizen executive order arguing that the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees citizenship for people born and naturalized in the U.S., and states have been interpreting the amendment that way for a century.
Ratified in 1868 in the aftermath of the Civil War, the amendment says: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”
Florida is not one of the plaintiff states as the governor wants to remove even democratically elected officials from office if they do not abide by anti-immigration laws. If your state isn’t part of the current lawsuits, contact your state attorney general and ask what they think of the executive order, the temporary block and whether or not they are considering filing suit or joining an action.
Meanwhile, political violence might increase as the rioters on January 6, 2021 were all given clemency for their violence. No such clemency is discussed for those arrested during the protest against the police killing of George Floyd in 2020. Legal experts worry the J6 political extremist will be more emboldened to commit political violence.
Public health will suffer if the Senate confirms Robert F. Kennedy Jr as head of Health and Human Services. Meanwhile, POTUS-47 has paused all research, meetings and general activity at the National Institutes of Health.
Finally, tracking the conflicts for mineral resources in the Congo.
Congo’s government said the rebel advance was a “declaration of war.” Fighting has escalated in recent days despite calls from the U.N. Security Council for the insurgents to withdraw.
The M23 rebels are one of about 100 armed groups vying for a foothold in the mineral-rich region in the decades-long conflict, one of Africa’s largest. The M23 refers to the March 23, 2009, agreement that ended a previous uprising in the region. The group was created in 2012 after the failed integration of ethnic Tutsis who broke away from the Congolese army. It claims it took up arms against Congolese forces to defend the Tutsis from discrimination but has often talked about targeting the Congolese government.
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Listen:Governor Ron DeSantis announced a special session on immigration – but one group says it’s a waste of time.
The special session will likely carry out President-elect Donald Trump’s expected crackdown on immigration laws.
DeSantis made the announcement at the State Capitol.
“The state of Florida stands ready, willing, and able to be able to help facilitate these policies that will benefit Floridians and benefit the American people,” DeSantis said.
But Thomas Kennedy, spokesperson for the Florida Immigrant Coalition, said the session is unnecessary.
“They really are just wasting time and legislating the same thing over and over and over again, year after year,” Kennedy told WMNF.
Kennedy pointed to a 2023 anti-immigration law touted as one of the most restrictive in the country, and a 2019 state law banning sanctuary cities and counties.
The session will also address condo problems and hurricane recovery.
Kennedy said state legislature should put more focus on these issues rather than immigration.
“To me, it’s just a distraction from the fact that they have not been able to tackle these other issues that will be tackled in this special session,” Kennedy said.
The special session starts January 27th.
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New social media law goes into effect Jan. 1A new law banning kids under the age of 14 from having social media accounts takes effect in Florida on January 1. Under the law, 14 and 15-year-olds can only open or operate social media accounts with parental permission.
Pinellas commissioner flipped vote for Rays stadiumPinellas County approved bonds for their part of a new $1.3 billion Tampa Bay Rays stadium.
Deportations nearly doubled from a year agoU.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement says it deported more than 270,000 people in the last 12-month period, the highest annual tally in a decade.
Pickleball tournament this week in Volusia CountyPickleball is one of the fastest-growing recreational activities in America. WMNF’s Sean Kinane reports hundreds of amateurs and pros are competing this week at a professional pickleball tournament in Holly Hill in Volusia County.
Amazon workers go on strikeAmazon workers affiliated with the Teamsters union are holding a strike at seven of the company’s delivery hubs less than a week before Christmas.
The Scoop: Tampa Bay & Florida headlines by WMNFThe Scoop producer Kiley Petracek
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WMNF News Director Seán Kinane
WMNF reporters Chris Young, Lisa Marzilli, Seán Kinane
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Delay Expansion of Children’s Health CareFlorida seeks delay due to Biden administration. Expansion of kid care can help children with complex issues.
Probation for St. Pete Uhuru groupA federal judge sentenced three members to probation and community service.
Push to end Dreamer Bill in TallahasseeLegislators in Tallahassee want to end the Dreamer Bill. It has been a decade-old law.
15-year-old student opens fires in schoolA student opened fire at her catholic school. She died on the way to the hospital.
Pillar Coral is on the Endangered ListThe Pillar Coral species is now on the endangered species list. The Florida Aquarium wants to breed more.
The Scoop: Tampa Bay & Florida headlines by WMNFThe Scoop producer Leah Burdick
WMNF anchors Chris Young, Lisa Marzilli, Meghan Bowman, Seán Kinane
WMNF News Director Seán Kinane
WMNF reporters Chris Young, Lisa Marzilli, Seán Kinane
Special thanks to Taylor Lovejoy and Corey Beltran
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Listen:President-elect Donald Trump says he will enforce the largest deportation program in history once he takes office. This comes as immigrants are already fearful in Florida.
Trump made the promise while campaigning in Texas.
“Immediately upon taking the oath of office, I will launch the largest deportation program in American History,” Trump said.
And he doubled down after Election Day.
In a post on social media platform Truth Social, Trump says he will use the military to enforce the mass deportation.
The remark prompted the American Civil Liberties Union to fight back. The ACLU says the policy is “inhumane” and wants Congress to cut funding for immigration enforcement.
But immigrants were already fearful in Florida – a November survey from the University of South Florida says the recent Florida anti-immigration law led to “notable” psychological distress among non-U-S citizens.
Ariel Sepulveda, organizing director with Florida Immigrant Coalition, says the distress has amplified since the election.
“Understandably, there’s a lot of anxiety. There’s a lot of fear. There’s a lot of ‘what do we do next?’” Sepulveda said.
Sepulveda talked to a woman scared of what might happen if her temporary immigration status is rescinded.
“To feel that fear, and to feel it very real around the corner, is just tragic to see somebody who is such a leader in the community, who fears that her status would be taken away from her.” Sepulveda said.
But Sepulveda says people have options available.
“Community is everything. Check-in with your folks, and not just checking in with your folks- but connecting to organizations on the ground like ourselves, who can help you with those legal resources,” Sepulveda said.
Florida has the third largest unauthorized immigrant population, behind Texas and California.
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After South Florida, Tampa’s population of Cubans is larger than anywhere else in the United States And still, the Bay area feels closer to the Caribbean island than almost anywhere else in America.
Albert A. Fox Jr., a Tampeño who’s spent decades working to normalize relations between Cuba and the U.S., joined us in the top half of The Skinny to discuss the state of affairs between the countries.
Fox, President of the Alliance for Responsible Cuba Policy, has run for U.S. Senate and Congress, and was joined on-air by John S. Kavulich, President of the U.S. – Cuba Trade and Economic Council, Inc., for the discussion about how the diplomatic relationship might change in the last gasps of the Biden administration.
In the second half of the program, New York Times and Reveal journalist Laura C. Morel discussed her reporting on Florida maternity homes that offer sanctuary but can also “feel oppressive.”
Listen to the show via Apple Music, TuneIn, and Spotify.
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Trial for four activists accused of interfering in U.S. election began TuesdayFour activists accused of illegally acting as Russian agents to help interfere in the U.S. election began.
Pinellas County jail overcrowding problem WMNF’s Chris Young reports how the jails in Pinellas County are seriously overcrowded, due to a law signed in 2023 by Governor Ron DeSantis.
Florida Attorney General files lawsuit against federal agencies Florida Attorney General, Ashley Moody, filed a lawsuit yesterday surrounding a violation of the handling of record requests for immigration practices.
Hurricane forecasters scale back predictions The meteorology company AccuWeather has scaled back predictions for this year’s hurricane season, forecasting 16 to 20 named storms.
Confirmed cases of Sloth Fever in Florida countiesHillsborough, Sarasota, Polk, and Miami-Dade counties have confirmed cases of the Oropouche virus, also known as sloth fever, transmitted from fly and mosquito bites.
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©2024 The News Service of Florida
Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody on Tuesday filed a lawsuit alleging that federal agencies have violated the Freedom of Information Act in their handling of requests for records about certain immigration practices.
Moody’s office filed the lawsuit in U.S. district court in Fort Myers against the Immigration & Customs Enforcement agency and the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
The lawsuit alleges that Florida sent Freedom of Information requests to the agencies in March seeking records about what Moody’s office described as “federal government policies permitting the release of dangerous criminals into the United States.”
It said the agencies have not provided the requested records or taken other steps such as notifying Florida about determinations on complying with the requests.
The lawsuit said Florida is seeking information about policies related to bringing people into the United States to be prosecuted for federal crimes and then possibly releasing those people after they serve sentences.
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by Jack Randall, Florida Trident
Conditions at the Baker County ICE Detention Center in rural northeast Florida, where more than 200 immigrants are detained, have been abysmal and at times horrific for years, according to numerous complaints.
Immigrants there awaiting court hearings and sometimes deportation have alleged unsanitary conditions, physical abuse and denial of medical care, legal counsel and sufficient food rations, according to the ACLU of Florida, which filed a lawsuit on their behalf in September 2022. The ACLU also joined with 16 other civil rights groups to lodge a 22-page complaint with the Department of Homeland Security regarding the “intolerable” conditions at the center.
It’s not just detainees who tell of terrible treatment at the detention center, which is run by the Baker County Sheriff’s Office. Two former guards at the facility, who spoke to the Florida Trident on condition of anonymity, said they witnessed – and experienced – substandard conditions as well. Both claim the facility is mismanaged by Baker Sheriff Scotty Rhoden, who’s named in the ACLU lawsuit and is also the subject of an ongoing and apparently unrelated criminal investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The complaint filed with DHS urged the termination of ICE’s contract with Baker County, calling the latter an “unfit partner by any metric.”
Rhoden refused to discuss specific allegations regarding the facility, citing the lawsuit. When asked if there had been a history of civil and human rights violations—abuse, racism and retaliation—in the detention center, the sheriff replied, “No, there has not.”
Rhoden faces lawsuit and criminal investigation.
(Courtesy: Baker County Sheriff’s Officer)The guards dispute that. One said conditions are so awful that detainees turn to a “frequently used last resort”: hunger strikes.
“After so many, you get used to it,” the former corrections officer said of the hunger strikes. “It’s not uncommon. I’ve seen people not eat and are serious about it, and I’ve seen them wither away.”
The ex-guard said one popular method used at the Baker ICE center to end the strikes, and collectively punish the detainees, was particularly inhumane and degrading: shutting off all running water in the facility.
The guard said when the master valve was closed, every faucet and shower in the facility went dry and every toilet was unflushable, affecting inmates in the entire housing area and creating unsanitary conditions. The alleged reason for BCSO’s water shutdown was to measure water intake during the strike, but the former corrections officer said the real reason for the administered droughts was to break morale.
These reports from staff correspond with a claim in the ACLU lawsuit describing a large hunger strike involving more than 100 inmates in May 2022. BCSO initially threatened to shut off all access to water if the strike commenced, and when it did, the agency followed through on the threat.
“It was basically forcing their hands to end the hunger strike,” Amy Godshall, an attorney with the ACLU, told the Trident. “Guards instigate things like that and have the people detained there to turn on each other. It’s psychological warfare.”
The lawsuit appears to be headed to trial after a settlement mediation period expired July 15 with no agreement reached between the parties.
“After we started speaking about the facility, the sheriff and undersheriff displayed animosity against us and those who also spoke out,” Godshall said. “We have heard from a lot of people who are scared to talk to us, because they are scared of retaliation. There are always officers around to overhear the conversation about the conditions, and so the ones who control the conditions are standing right next to them.”
On patrol through the facilityBoth of the former BCSO corrections officers paint a dark portrait of the Baker County Ice Detention Center, not just for the inmates but also for the guards.
“The cells, the dorms, the housing areas—it’s all pretty bad,” said one of them.
Unlike the two other ICE-commissioned detention centers in Florida, the Baker County facility is operated by the sheriff’s office and includes the county jail with general population inmates. The county arrestees are housed in the “A” block while the migrants are detained in the “B” block. Correctional officers rotate and work both sides of the jail, sometimes on the same shift.
Working a shift is a long, lonely job, said the ex-guards. Cell blocks A and B are often patrolled by only one guard each, they said, and calling for assistance usually means crickets, they said.
Guards work 12-hour shifts without any formal breaks, according to the former officers, and the mental toll of “always being on guard” creates strained daily working conditions. One of the former officers said they once worked two weeks of 12-hour shifts without a day off. Turnover is high, the guards said.
“You were honestly unable to have any personal relationships due to never being off, and the few days we were off, we were trying to recover and get ready to do it all over again,” one said.
The scarcity of days off from working 12-hour shifts led to the ironic dynamic of the guards themselves feeling incarcerated.
“It was mentally stressful due to having kids that need daycare and not being able to see them,” one said. “It’s not fair that the children of the employees have to be punished because of the administration.”
Undersheriff Randy Crews (Courtesy: Baker County Sheriff’s Office)“They’d constantly call and mandate me to come to work or threaten myself and others with termination,” said the other. “Personal relationships were impacted because you could never make plans with your family due to the possibility of having to work on your day off.”
The former officers said that while Sheriff Rhoden was largely absent and had “no idea what’s going on in the jail,” his undersheriff, Randy Crews, had taken the main leadership role there. Also a defendant in the ACLU’s lawsuit, Crews, like his boss, declined to discuss the facility conditions in detail when reached by the Trident.
“Quite frankly, we’re not really allowed to talk about it per the advice of our attorneys,” he said. “I am not going to go down any rabbit hole of answering any questions about anything to do with immigration or ICE. I am not going to answer questions related to that, no matter what they are.”
The other side of the barsInmates like 44-year-old Bobbeth Morgan from Kingston, Jamaica, have alleged terrible conditions inside the facility.
“What I was faced with at Baker County Detention Center sent me down on my knees begging God for mercy,” Morgan wrote in 2022. “The cell was so dirty it had multiple centipedes crawling around and the bunk and walls had blood stains all over. I cried asking God to please work a miracle and wake me up from this nightmare.”
Morgan was instead awoken in the middle of the night by a sergeant sneaking into the jail cell to take photos of her and her cellmate sleeping, she claimed.
Morgan’s letter has been one voice in an ongoing clamor of human rights complaints coming from Baker the past decade: physical and mental abuse, medical neglect, sexual voyeurism, unclean water, no running water, prevalent racism, and retaliation when detainees speak out.
“Baker has grown infamous among immigrants: ‘Do whatever you can to not get transferred to Baker,’” said Katie Blankenship, a former ACLU attorney representing the plaintiffs pro bono. “It is well-known that Baker is the hellhole that it is.”
Detainee testimonies obtained for the lawsuit point toward a cycle of abuse, racism and retaliation. One immigrant was allegedly beaten, handcuffed, sexually assaulted and called a “porch monkey” simply for asking the air conditioning to be adjusted.
Both former officers said they were appalled by the overuse of solitary confinement, where detainees are kept in small enclosures with no windows, and human interaction is limited to when meals are passed through a flap.
County inmates, migrant detainees and state hospital patients go in and out of solitary like a “revolving door,” they said, adding that some remained in isolation for more than a year. Those confined in solidarity often don’t receive recreation time, and while they do have access to a tablet, they often receive only limited access to the legal phones, they said.
“Could you imagine being in there? It’s got to cause you to go crazy,” said the former officer.
This article first appeared on Florida Trident and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
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A recent report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) found undocumented immigrants in the U.S. paid nearly $100 billion in federal, state, and local taxes in 2022.
For every 1 million undocumented workers in the U.S., public services received $8.9 billion.
The Florida Policy Institute released its findings from Florida’s role in those numbers.
Florida collected the fourth-highest amount nationwide in taxes from undocumented immigrants – $1.8 billion from about 747,000 residents, according to Senior Policy Analyst Alexis Tsoukalas.
Tsoukalas said the residents would have brought an additional $154 million in state and local tax revenue in 2022 if they’d been granted legal status.
But despite their contributions, many are not eligible for public services or benefits funded by tax money. In the state, undocumented immigrants pay 7.9% of their income to state and local taxes.
“Meanwhile, the wealthiest 1% of state residents pay just 2.7% of their income on average,” Tsoukalas said. “I think that’s really important to highlight that you have hundreds of thousands of everyday people contributing more than their share to public services they can’t even access.”
Florida Policy Institute estimates if just 10% of undocumented workers moved, it would cost the state billions of dollars.
Starting July 1, state law issues penalties for employers who hire undocumented workers. Tsoukalas said the bill, along with other provisions in it, threatens to push people out of some of the top industries with undocumented workers – like construction, agriculture, and farm work.
“People don’t realize, I don’t think, how reliant we are on immigrants and sometimes undocumented immigrants,” Tsoukalas said.
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Susan MacManus, USF Emeritus Distinguished Professor of Political Science and political analyst for ABC Action News in Tampa, appeared on WMNF WaveMakers with Janet & Tom on Tuesday (7/23) to discuss the unprecedented dynamics of the presidential campaign.
A disastrous debate performance by President Joe Biden less than a month ago prompted calls for him to leave the race. An attempted assassination of Donald Trump by a 20-year-old registered Republican led to the resignation Monday of the Secret Service director. A Republican Party unified around Donald Trump’s candidacy against Biden, only to have Biden stun the nation by dropping out of the race and immediately endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris. Harris quickly secured support from two-thirds of Democratic delegates.
Expect more surprises before the November election, MacManus said. “It’s so risky for people to say definitively what is going to happen in November,” MacManus said. “With the snap of a finger we can see another 180 degree change. We have such a fast news cycle and so many things can happen.”
Harris fares slightly better against Trump than Biden, MacManus said, but Trump still holds a slight lead in polls, particularly in swing states. Democrats will have to fight hard to win swing states in the midwest, so Harris’ running mate will be crucial, she said.
MacManus attended the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee for ABC Action News and plans to attend the Democratic convention where Harris is expected to secure the nomination. Days before Biden dropped out, MacManus said she thought he could not continue.
So she was not surprised when Biden dropped out Sunday. “The pressure was mounting by the second practically. He really didn’t have an option.”
Now Harris will have the advantage over Trump on age, since he’s now the oldest candidate ever to run for president. Polls showed voters weren’t happy with Trump or Biden, so Harris has an opportunity to win over voters looking for an alternative, MacManus said. But polls also show a majority of voters don’t like the direction of the country, she pointed out, and Harris will not be able to distance herself from unpopular Biden decisions.
It’s too early for polls to reflect the new reality of Harris as the Democratic nominee, MacManus said. It will take a couple of weeks before anyone can realistically judge the impact of switching from Biden to Harris, she said.
But Harris is a much better campaigner today than she was four years ago, MacManus said. She’s calmer, more confident, smiles more. “Her campaign confidence has gone stratospheric,” MacManus said.
Hear the entire conversation by clicking the link below, going to the WaveMakers archives or by searching for WMNF WaveMakers wherever you listen to podcasts.
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It won’t be easy to unseat Republican Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna, who represents much of Pinellas County and part of Hillsborough. Still, these five Democrats hope to do just that in a district with at least 50,000 more registered Republicans than Democrats.
- Sabrina Bousbar
- Liz Dahan
- Whitney Fox
- John Liccione
- Mark Weinkrantz
Last week on The Skinny, the candidates were on-air at WMNF Tampa 88.5-FM to debate about Joe Biden, getting rid of the filibuster, funding for Ukraine, immigration, Israel and more.
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On Wed. June 12, 2024, MidPoint hosted Juan Carlos Chavez, reporting for the Tampa Bay Times, on the deadly bus crash that killed 8 farmworkers and injured dozens more in May. The workers were traveling to harvest watermelons in Dunnellon when their bus was hit by a drunk driver and the migrants, who were not provided seatbelts, went flying. Now, several of the injured workers are still in medical treatment and rehabilitation, but their temporary work visas have expired and they have nowhere to live. According to Brent Probinsky of Sarasota, the attorney for several of the injured workers pursuing workers’ compensation claims, some of these workers will apply for tourist visas to complete their medical treatments in the U.S. Probinsky and Chavez also reported that some of the workers had received funds from a GoFundMe account created for them by a local farmworker non-profit organization to allow them to remain in worker housing until they can finish their medical care because there is no legal requirement that their employer continue to provide them housing under these circumstances. However, several workers sent much of their funds back to Mexico to reimburse family members who had funded their travel to the U.S. for work.
These migrants were in Florida legally and intended to pick watermelons in Florida, then travel to Georgia, then to Texas, over a 3 or 4-month period of farmwork in the U.S. Their Florida employer, Olvera Trucking Corp., hired them on an agricultural visa program known as the H-2A program. But now, many of them are unable to do the work they were hired to do due to their injuries and their future is uncertain. This incident has illuminated the gaps in worker protections for farmworkers under the H-2A program. According to Chavez’ reporting, the program’s rules don’t address whether laborers should be afforded extended time in the U.S. for treatment of work-related injuries, or whether employers should provide housing during that time, even though farmworkers are commonly injured on the job.
Read the Tampa Bay Times reporting on this here and their editorial here, and stream our MidPoint show on demand here, or listen as a WMNF MidPoint podcast wherever you get your podcasts
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By Dara Kam ©2024 The News Service of Florida
TALLAHASSEE — Attorneys for the state squared off this week with lawyers for immigrants and an advocacy group after an unusual twist in a challenge to a Florida law aimed at cracking down on illegal immigration.
The lawsuit, filed in July by The Farmworker Association of Florida, Inc. and individual plaintiffs, centers on part of a 2023 law that threatens felony charges for people who transport into Florida an immigrant who “entered the United States in violation of law and has not been inspected by the federal government since his or her unlawful entry.”
Siding with the plaintiffs on May 22, U.S. District Judge Roy Altman issued an injunction prohibiting enforcement of that part of the law statewide. But the following day, the judge issued an order appearing to second-guess his decision and asked for “further briefing on the proper scope of the injunction.”
Altman’s May 23 order pointed to “national conversation taking place in both the legal academy and the judiciary concerning the propriety of courts using universal injunctions as a matter of preliminary relief.”
The judge gave lawyers for the plaintiffs and the state until Thursday to file briefs on whether the injunction should apply statewide; throughout the federal Southern District of Florida, where the case was filed; to plaintiffs who have established legal standing; or to all plaintiffs who remain in the case.
In a brief filed Thursday, lawyers for the plaintiffs urged Altman to keep his initial decision to block the law throughout Florida.
“Statewide relief is necessary to provide complete relief to the plaintiffs here, because there is no viable way to structure and enforce a more limited injunction that would fully protect the nearly 12,000 members of plaintiff Farmworker Association of Florida,” the plaintiffs’ lawyers argued. “While there has been recent debate about the propriety of systemwide injunctions, every court to address the issue has agreed that they are appropriate when necessary to redress the plaintiffs’ harms.”
The “practical need” for a statewide injunction, they added, is “bolstered by the legal context” of the lawsuit. The context includes an argument by the plaintiffs that the Florida law is “preempted” by federal immigration laws.
“In cases like these, statewide injunctions advance the basic purpose of preemption doctrine, which is to protect Congress’ prerogatives and ensure the smooth functioning of the federal immigration scheme. A narrower injunction would fail to do that,” Paul Chavez, an attorney with the Southern Poverty Law Center, wrote in the 19-page brief. Plaintiffs also are represented by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Florida, Americans for Immigrant Justice, the American Immigration Council, and the ACLU Immigration Rights’ Project.
Attorneys for the state, however, argued that “no universal injunction is warranted here.”
“At best, only the individual plaintiffs have standing and a cause of action. The injunction therefore should not apply beyond them, whether nationwide, statewide, or even district-wide,” lawyers in Attorney General Ashley Moody’s office wrote in a 16-page brief.
Also, the state’s lawyers argued that the farmworker association lacked “a valid cause of action” under the federal Immigration and Naturalization Act and is not entitled to relief.
Courts “have been skeptical” of statewide and nationwide injunctions, the state’s brief said, pointing to recent decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court that blocked statewide injunctions.
But the plaintiffs’ lawyers argued that courts have narrowed injunctions in cases involving “a small number of individuals, not an organization with thousands of members facing arrest and prosecution from hundreds of law enforcement agencies throughout the state.”
The state also on Thursday filed a “motion for reconsideration” that, in part, said Altman overlooked the state’s argument that the plaintiffs “lack a cause of action” to bring the preemption claim.
The 2023 law is among a number of steps DeSantis and the Republican-controlled Legislature have taken in recent years to target undocumented immigrants.
In issuing the May 22 preliminary injunction, Altman cited previous court rulings that he said consistently established immigration is a matter governed by federal — not state — law.
“By making it a felony to transport into Florida someone who ‘has not been inspected by the federal government since his or her unlawful entry,’ Section 10 (the disputed section of the law) extends beyond the state’s authority to make arrests for violations of federal immigration law and, in so doing, intrudes into territory that’s preempted,” Altman, who was appointed as a federal judge in 2018 by former President Donald Trump, wrote.
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NOAA forecast calls for up to 25 named stormsThe National Ocean Atmospheric Association reported as many as 25 named storms for this year’s storm season. Warm waters are creating what some experts call a rapid intensification of storms.
Pass-a-Grille Beach sand renourishment projectOver the next few months, Pinellas County will begin replenishing sand at Pass-a-grille Beach. WMNF’s Meghan Bowman spoke with a resident who has concerns.
Judge reconsiders scope of blocking Florida immigration lawWhat was initially a statewide injunction is now being reconsidered as federal judge Roy Altman invites “further briefing on the proper scope of the injunction.” The injunction would’ve prevented the process of transporting undocumented immigrants becoming criminalized.
TECO customers speak out against rate hikesTampa Electric and its Canadian parent company, Emera, gathered for their annual shareholders meeting yesterday. WMNF’s Chris Young reports that on the same day, concerned TECO customers and community leaders met to discuss the impacts of energy costs and rate increases.
Trump and DeSantis reconcileFlorida Governor Ron Desantis and Former President Donald Trump announced to major donors yesterday that they want to end their rivalry to prevent President Joe Biden from winning a second term.
Teen arrested after Zephyrhills shootingA 15-year-old and a 23-year-old were arrested in relation to a shooting that happened on Tuesday. Nobody was hurt in the shooting, and authorities are describing it as an isolated incident.
The Scoop: Tampa Bay & Florida headlines by WMNFThe Scoop producer Tyler Oldano
WMNF anchors Chris Young, Lisa Marzilli, Josh Holton, Seán Kinane
WMNF News Director Seán Kinane
WMNF reporters Chris Young, Lisa Marzilli, Josh Holton, Seán Kinane, Colleen Cole
Special thanks to Taylor Lovejoy and Corey Beltran.
Theme music, Fresh06, by Stian via archive.org – CC-BY-NC-SA 2.5
https://archive.org/details/jamendo-001084/02.mp3
The Scoop logo by Robin Milcowitz / Greener Pixels / greenerpixels.com / WMNF
The post The Scoop: Fri. May 24th, 2024 Tampa Bay and Florida headlines by WMNF appeared first on WMNF 88.5 FM.
©2024 The News Service of Florida
A day after blocking part of a state law aimed at cracking down on illegal immigration, a federal judge Thursday appeared to have second thoughts about the scope of a preliminary injunction he issued.
U.S. District Judge Roy Altman initially applied the injunction statewide.
But he issued an order Thursday that partially quoted an Arkansas case and said on “further reflection, and given the ‘national conversation taking place in both the legal academy and the judiciary concerning the propriety of courts using universal injunctions as a matter of preliminary relief,’ we now invite further briefing on the proper scope of the injunction.”
Altman, who was appointed as a judge in the federal Southern District of Florida in 2018 by former President Donald Trump, ordered attorneys for the plaintiffs and the state to file briefs by June 6 on whether the injunction should apply to plaintiffs who have established legal standing; all plaintiffs who remain in the case; throughout the Southern District; or statewide.
The lawsuit, filed in July by The Farmworker Association of Florida, Inc. and individual plaintiffs, centers on part of a 2023 state law (SB 1718) that threatens felony charges for people who transport an immigrant who “entered the United States in violation of law and has not been inspected by the federal government since his or her unlawful entry.”
In issuing the preliminary injunction Wednesday, Altman cited previous federal court rulings that he said consistently established immigration is a matter governed by federal — not state — law.
“By making it a felony to transport into Florida someone who ‘has not been inspected by the federal government since his or her unlawful entry,’ Section 10 (the disputed section of the law) extends beyond the state’s authority to make arrests for violations of federal immigration law and, in so doing, intrudes into territory that’s preempted,” Altman wrote.
The law is among a number of steps DeSantis and the GOP-controlled Florida Legislature have taken in recent years targeting undocumented immigrants.
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Judge Blocks Florida Immigration LawA federal judge temporarily blocked the enforcement of a Florida law that makes it a felony to transport immigrants without permanent legal status into the state. Jude Roy Altman blocked the law saying that plaintiffs would suffer due to family separation.
Lakeland activists want police accountabilityThe state attorney’s office dropped all charges against a Lakeland man who was beaten while he was being arrested. WMNF’s Chris Young reports activists want those involved to be arrested.
Education unions face recertification challengesNew Florida law requires public sector unions to meet a rate of 60% dues-paying members. WMNF’s Jimmy Rosilio reports, that education unions feel targeted as they fight for recertification.
Pasco County Schools offer free summer mealsWMNF’s Colleen Cole reports that Pasco County Schools will provide students with free meals this summer.
Lawsuit to reinstate Monique Worell is dismissedA federal judge dismissed a lawsuit where two voters and the group Florida Rising Together, challenged Gov. Ron DeSantis’ suspension of Orlando-area State Attorney Monique Worrell. District Judge ruled that the plaintiffs did not have legal standing to pursue the lawsuit.
The Scoop: Tampa Bay & Florida headlines by WMNFThe Scoop producer Leah Burdick
WMNF anchors Chris Young, Lisa Marzilli, Josh Holton, Seán Kinane
WMNF News Director Seán Kinane
WMNF reporters Chris Young, Lisa Marzilli, Josh Holton, Seán Kinane, Colleen Cole
Special thanks to Taylor Lovejoy and Corey Beltran.
Theme music, Fresh06, by Stian via archive.org – CC-BY-NC-SA 2.5
https://archive.org/details/jamendo-001084/02.mp3
The Scoop logo by Robin Milcowitz / Greener Pixels / greenerpixels.com / WMNF
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By Jim Saunders ©2024 The News Service of Florida
TALLAHASSEE — Florida and the federal government squared off this week in an appeals court about whether the state could legally challenge Biden administration policies that led to undocumented immigrants being released from detention.
Lawyers for the two sides filed briefs late Monday at the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody have made a high-profile issue of criticizing the Biden administration’s handling of immigration issues, but the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year that Texas and Louisiana did not have legal standing to challenge certain immigration policies.
In light of the Supreme Court ruling, the Atlanta-based appeals court ordered Florida and the federal government to file briefs about whether the state had standing to challenge what are known as “parole” policies.
Lawyers in Moody’s office wrote that the Supreme Court case does not bar Florida’s challenge, largely because the Texas and Louisiana case focused on issues related to arresting migrants — while the Florida challenge involves paroling people who have already been detained.
“Texas (the Texas and Louisiana case) involved the executive branch’s historic discretion to enforce federal law,” the state’s 35-page brief said. “But here, the challenged policies are much more than a mere failure to enforce the law. They instead confer temporary legal status and other statutory benefits in the form of parole.”
But in their 34-page brief, U.S. Department of Justice lawyers called such a distinction “immaterial” and said both cases “concern policies vested with discretion.”
“Here, DHS’s (the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s) parole policies reflected decisions about how to best use its limited resources to process and detain noncitizens who unlawfully entered the United States during particular periods of time,” the Justice Department brief said.
Florida filed a lawsuit in September 2021 challenging Biden administration policies. The lawsuit ultimately led to two rulings last year by U.S. District Judge T. Kent Wetherell that said policies, known as “Parole Plus Alternatives to Detention” and “Parole with Conditions,” violated federal law.
The Pensacola-based judge issued the rulings before the Supreme Court decided the Texas and Louisiana case. Justice Department attorneys, who have long argued that Florida did not have legal standing, took the dispute to the Atlanta-based appeals court.
After the Supreme Court decision, the appeals court in February directed Wetherell to consider again whether he had “jurisdiction” in the Florida challenge. Plaintiffs must show standing before judges have jurisdiction to decide cases. So if Florida didn’t have standing, Wetherell couldn’t have ruled in its favor.
Wetherell, a former state appellate judge who was appointed to the federal bench by former President Donald Trump, quickly issued a decision supporting his earlier rulings that Florida had standing. Like the state’s arguments this week, he drew distinctions between the issues in the Florida and Texas lawsuits.
“The policies at issue in these (Florida) cases do not involve arrest or prosecution, but rather explain how DHS (the U.S. Department of Homeland Security) will exercise its statutory ‘parole’ authority … with respect to aliens who are already in DHS custody after arriving at the southwest border,” Wetherell wrote. “Nothing in Texas (the Supreme Court opinion) held that federal courts cannot adjudicate the validity of non-detention/parole policies like these.”
After Wetherell’s decision, the appeals court last month ordered additional briefs.
Florida also contends that it has standing because of costs associated with migrants coming to the state. As an example, it said the state faces costs for educating additional children.
“The district court (Wetherell) correctly concluded that DHS’s policies authorizing the mass parole of aliens into Florida impose financial costs on Florida as well as injure Florida’s quasi-sovereign interest in its territory and the presence and movement of unauthorized aliens within its borders,” the state’s brief said.
But Justice Department lawyers wrote that Florida “alleges an indirect injury and failed to provide sufficient evidence of harm.”
“Following (the Supreme Court decision in the Texas and Louisiana case), it is no longer sufficient for a state to argue that a change in federal policy may increase population and indirectly change state expenditures with respect to driver’s licenses, education, health care, or law enforcement,” the Justice Department brief said. “Finding standing whenever a change in federal policy would cause some incidental costs to states would allow any state to challenge any change in immigration policy, and improperly draw courts into generalized grievances on behalf of states that were unable to obtain their preferred policy outcomes through the political process.”
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By Jim Saunders ©2024 The News Service of Florida
TALLAHASSEE — A federal appeals court is looking at whether Florida could legally challenge Biden administration immigration policies, after a district judge sided with the state in a fight spearheaded by Attorney General Ashley Moody and Gov. Ron DeSantis.
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals this week ordered the state and the Biden administration to file briefs about whether Florida has legal standing to challenge what are known as “parole” policies related to undocumented immigrants being released from detention after crossing the country’s southwest border.
The order came after the U.S. Supreme Court last year ruled that Texas and Louisiana did not have standing to challenge federal immigration-enforcement policies. The U.S. Supreme Court case involved policies related to arresting migrants.
“That decision raises several significant questions about Florida’s standing in these cases,” Monday’s appeals court order said. “Questions that the parties may consider answering include the extent to which the (U.S. Supreme) Court’s reasoning in Texas with respect to arrest and prosecution policies applies to the parole policies at issue in these cases.”
Moody and DeSantis have made a high-profile issue of criticizing the federal government’s handling of immigration issues. As examples, the DeSantis administration has directed flights of migrants from Texas to Massachusetts and California and has sent Florida law-enforcement officers to the Texas border with Mexico.
The state filed a lawsuit in September 2021 challenging Biden administration policies. The lawsuit ultimately led to two rulings last year by U.S. District Judge T. Kent Wetherell that said policies, known as “Parole Plus Alternatives to Detention” and “Parole with Conditions,” violated federal law.
The Pensacola-based judge issued the rulings before the U.S. Supreme Court decided the Texas and Louisiana case. U.S. Department of Justice attorneys, who have long argued that Florida did not have legal standing, took the dispute to the Atlanta-based appeals court.
After the U.S. Supreme Court decision, the appeals court in February directed Wetherell to consider again whether he had “jurisdiction” in the Florida challenge. Plaintiffs must show standing before judges have jurisdiction to decide cases. So if Florida didn’t have standing, Wetherell couldn’t have ruled in its favor.
Wetherell, a former state appellate judge who was appointed to the federal bench by former President Donald Trump, quickly issued a decision supporting his earlier rulings that Florida had standing. In part, he drew distinctions between the Florida and Texas cases.
“The policies at issue in these (Florida) cases do not involve arrest or prosecution, but rather explain how DHS (the U.S. Department of Homeland Security) will exercise its statutory ‘parole’ authority … with respect to aliens who are already in DHS custody after arriving at the southwest border,” Wetherell wrote. “Nothing in Texas (the U.S. Supreme Court opinion) held that federal courts cannot adjudicate the validity of non-detention/parole policies like these.”
In its order this week, the appeals court appeared to focus on that question.
“Though the Supreme Court’s opinion pointed out that such (parole) policies ‘arguably might raise a different standing question,’ it is far from certain that the sentence by itself ‘establishes that Texas does not control the resolution of the standing issue in these cases,’” the order said, partially quoting Wetherell’s decision. “Other questions include whether Florida’s quasi-sovereign interest is meaningfully different than the one asserted by Texas and how, if at all, Florida’s injury is redressed by vacatur of the challenged policies.”
In supporting its standing arguments, Florida has contended that undocumented immigrants move to the state and create costs for such things as the education, health-care and prison systems.
But after the Supreme Court ruling against Texas and Louisiana, Justice Department attorneys filed a brief last year contending the appeals court should reject Florida’s arguments for similar reasons.
“In United States v. Texas, the Supreme Court held that two states lacked standing to challenge DHS’s immigration enforcement policies because they lacked ‘a legally and judicially cognizable’ injury where their alleged injury were costs associated with having more noncitizens in their states. Florida similarly fails to satisfy the ‘bedrock constitutional requirement’ of standing,” the Justice Department brief said.
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Maureen Sun – The Sisters KIn her original, masterful, debut novel, Maureen Sun dissects the unfolding tragedy about sisters and family and the hostile undercurrents of love and hate keeping them together. After years of estrangement, Minah, Sarah, and Esther have been forced together again. Called to their father’s deathbed, the sisters must confront a man little changed by the fact of his mortality. Vicious and pathetic in equal measure, Eugene Kim wants one thing: to see which of his children will abject themselves for his favor— and more importantly, his fortune. From their childhood in California to the depths of a mid-Atlantic winter, the solitary sisters Kim must face a brutal past colliding with their present. Grasping at their broken bonds of sisterhood, they will do what is necessary to escape the tragedy of their circumstances—whatever the cost. For Minah, the eldest, the money would be recompense for their father’s cruelty. A practicing lawyer with an icy pragmatism, she dreams of a family of her own and sets to work on securing her inheritance. For Sarah, a gifted and embittered academic who wields her intelligence like a weapon, confronting her father again forces her to reckon with the desperation of her present life. It is left to the youngest— directionless and loving Esther— to care for their father in her lonely quest to do right by everyone. A fortune pales in comparison to the prospect of finally reuniting with her sisters. With a legacy of violence haunting their lives, the sisters dare to imagine a better future even as their father’s poison courses through their blood. Maureen Sun has reimagined Dostoevsky’s dark classic, The Brothers Karamazov complete with a vivid and visceral exploration of rage, shame, and the betrayals of intimacy.
Ellen Weinstein – Five Stories“I am a third-generation resident of the Lower East Side in New York.” writes Ellen Weinstein “My grandparents and great-grandparents came to the Lower East Side as part of the Great Wave of Immigration from Eastern European in the early 1900s. I tried to imagine my grandparents and great grandparents crossing the Atlantic by boat from Russia to Ellis Island. I wondered about my neighbors and their journeys and what they left behind. Although I based the first girl in this story on my real grandmother, Jenny Epstein, the other characters are made up from many different people I learned about.” The acclaimed illustrator and author has created a vivid authentic picture book based on her intimate knowledge and real-life observations of the neighborhood she grew up in and the families from many culture who live there. Five Stories is a cross section of American history that celebrates the many diverse cultures that make up the USA. Ellen makes clear in our conversation that now more than ever, we all need to be determined to refute the ugly voices of hostility against peoples of different cultures.
Show 537
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Listen:The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration released new data showing the financial costs of undocumented immigrants on the state’s healthcare system. But with undocumented immigrants being only 4% of the state population, critics say the new report has flaws and questions that need answering.
The report claims that undocumented immigrants have cost the state $566 million in expenses. But the report also claims a broader range of possible costs, too.
“The thing that the report says that I think is a lot clearer is the number could be anywhere between zero and 2.6 billion, so they honed in on this 566 number, but really it could be anywhere in between.”
Ana Goni-Lessan is the state watchdog reporter for USA Today Florida.
SB 1718 is a controversial immigration law passed last year. It requires hospitals that accept Medicaid to ask patients about their immigration status – and that may contribute to the wide estimate range.
“Well, the discrepancy is you’re not required to answer that question, ‘Are you here lawfully in the United States?’ So you have people who either answered yes, no, or decline to answer.”
Alexis Tsoukalas is a policy analyst with Florida Policy Institute. She mentions that a different, more thorough report went to legislators than the one AHCA released to the public officially.
“There’s a lot more context around the limitations of the data in the report that went to the legislature. For example, it talks about how uncompensated care has actually declined in the state over the past decade. None of that is mentioned in the public report and on the dashboard.”
She says other data can cast doubt on the stats.
“Over the past decade, the undocumented population has significantly declined by over 240 thousand people. So, if we know they’re only 4% of the state population, and according to AHCA’s dashboard, less than 1% of those responding to the survey, visiting these hospitals, it shows these Floridians are actually underrepresented in healthcare already. So they’re much less likely to be a burden on the medical system.”
Read the report here.
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A 2023 United Nations report exposes schemes through Florida gun show straw buyers to funnel guns into Haiti.
As violence escalates into Haiti suburbs Florida is proving to be unwelcoming sending forces to return asylum-seekers back to the violence.
Also, thoughts from former Justice Steven Bryer sounding the alarm over the right-wing direction of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Patró Mabíli points out US contradictions
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By Ryan Dailey and Jim Turner ©2024 The News Service of Florida
TALLAHASSEE — After speaking behind a placard that said “stop illegal immigration,” Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday signed three bills that proponents argue will be deterrents to undocumented immigrants coming to the state.
The measures, approved during the legislative session that ended last week, seek to crack down on the use of what are known as “community” identification cards, strengthen criminal penalties for people who previously have been deported and stiffen punishments for repeatedly driving without licenses.
“We really appreciate what people are doing who are wearing the (law enforcement) uniform to help keep our communities safe. So I think these bills will go a long way to helping make their job easier and make them even more effective,” DeSantis said during a news conference at the Polk County sheriff’s office.
Perhaps the highest-profile bill (HB 1451) is designed to further curb community identification cards. The bill will prevent counties and municipalities from accepting community IDs if the cards were issued by groups that have provided such identification to people who are in the country illegally.
The cards, which typically are issued by non-profit organizations or other non-governmental groups, cannot be used for purposes such as driving or voting but are intended to serve as an alternative form of identification.
Broward County, for example, authorized the use of community ID cards in 2021. Legal Aid Service of Broward County runs the Broward Community ID Project, providing cards to people who can prove they reside in the county.
“Any resident of Broward County can apply for a community ID card. This ID is especially useful to formerly incarcerated persons, foster youth, transgender persons, the homeless, new immigrants, refugees, or anyone who might face difficulties obtaining a state-issued ID. Immigration status will not be asked,” the organization’s website says.
Before signing the bill, DeSantis referred to community IDs as “rogue identifications.”
But during the legislative debate last week, Democrats defended the use of community IDs.
Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, said law-enforcement officials have backed the use of community IDs. Eskamani said the cards “can help residents who are experiencing homelessness” and “can help link some of our most vulnerable residents to resources.”
Rep. Johanna Lopez, D-Orlando, said “restricting access to valid identification jeopardizes public safety.”
The bill builds on a measure approved last year that prohibited local governments from providing money for issuing identification cards to undocumented immigrants.
During the appearance Friday in Polk County, DeSantis also signed a bill (SB 1036) that will increase criminal penalties for immigrants who are arrested for felonies after illegally re-entering the U.S. following deportation for earlier crimes. Also, he signed a measure (HB 1589) that will increase penalties for driving without a valid license more than once.
“In the state of Florida, if you have been deported and you come to this state, and enter our state and you’re here illegally, and you commit crimes, we are throwing the book at you,” DeSantis said about the bill dealing with previously deported people.
DeSantis also said the driver’s license measure is a deterrent for illegal immigrants to travel to Florida.
“We don’t recognize drivers’ licenses from other states that have been issued to illegal aliens. So, that’s smart,” DeSantis said. “But you still have people that come and drive without a license. One of the big cures we can do for illegal immigration is to make sure people that are doing that are facing serious consequences.”
The ACLU of Florida, however, has argued that the drivers’ license measure “disproportionately impacts and targets undocumented immigrants who the state refuses to allow to obtain a valid Florida driver license, and thus forces them to subject themselves to criminal penalties for the simple act of driving their children to after-school activities or doctor appointments.”
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Hands off Haiti! Over two centuries ago, the people of Haiti defeated European colonialism and established the world’s first Black republic. Today in the face of chaos people are taking on the fight for their own future.
The Haitian People are caught in a spiral of violence as gangs rule most of the capital, Port-au-Prince. The Prime Minister forced to land in Puerto Rico and Haitians seek asylum in the United States.
Florida legislature, meanwhile, weaken child labor laws
More Women’s History Month celebration as folk music group Sweet Honey and The Rock render “Battle For My Life”.
Patró Mabíli tackle the world hot spots at WMNF 88five FMThe post Haiti Crisis, U.S. and World Paralysis appeared first on WMNF 88.5 FM.
©2024 The News Service of Florida
An appeals court Friday scheduled arguments April 9 in a lawsuit alleging the Florida Department of Transportation and a contractor did not fully comply with public records requests about controversial state-funded flights of migrants to Massachusetts.
The Florida Center for Government Accountability last year went to the 1st District Court of Appeal after Leon County Circuit Judge Angela Dempsey dismissed the lawsuit.
The center contended in the lawsuit that the Department of Transportation and the contractor, Vertol Systems Company, Inc., violated the state’s public records law by not fully providing requested documents about the September 2022 flights of 49 migrants from San Antonio, Texas, to Martha’s Vineyard.
The flights, engineered by Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration, have drawn national scrutiny.
In two rulings, Dempsey concluded that the center did not prove the department and Vertol withheld documents.
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©2024 The News Service of Florida
The Florida Senate on Wednesday backed a proposal to bar counties and municipalities from accepting identification cards and documents issued by groups who have provided such credentials to people who are in the country illegally.
Senators voted 28-9 to approve the bill (HB 1451) after the House signed off on the measure earlier this week.
The legislation is ready to go to Gov. Ron DeSantis.
The bill would apply to what are commonly known as “community” ID cards, which cannot be used for purposes such as driving or voting.
Critics of the proposal have repeatedly argued that law enforcement officials support the use of community ID cards, which can allow people who do not have other forms of identification to provide a form of ID to police.
The passage of the measure Wednesday is a continuation of the Republican-dominated Legislature’s efforts in recent years to crack down on illegal immigration.
Last year, lawmakers and DeSantis approved a measure that prohibited local governments from providing money for issuing identification cards to undocumented immigrants.
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Listen:Governor Ron DeSantis announced Florida Highway Patrol and National Guardsman are heading to the southern border. This comes as many Republican governors across the US have shown solidarity with controversial Texas border control efforts.
Governor DeSantis made the announcement in Pensacola on Friday. He’s sending 76 Florida Highway Patrol and 50 National Guardsmen to the southern border. He says it’s because he believes that a terrorist attack from migrants from the Southern border is inevitable.
“We’re going to continue to be in this fight until the problem is solved, and we need to have the problem solved. American’s security depends on it, American lives depend on it.”
DeSantis also addressed his failed presidential campaign.
“The good thing is, you have the right to throw your hat in the ring. You also have an ability for me to sit here and say 2023 was the most productive year we’ve ever had in the history of the state of Florida.”
Earlier this month, House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell questioned his deployment of Floridians to the southern border.
“We should not be sending them to the border because this is not their job. This is not for Florida to get involved in, and we certainly have plenty of crises to deal with here at home.”
She also questioned the governor’s focus on national issues, even after his failed presidential campaign.
“I feel like he’s running for something, I’m not sure what it is, but he certainly wants to make sure he stays in the national spotlight.”
The National Guardsman left from Plant City, and the Highway Patrol left from Pensacola.
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©2024 The News Service of Florida
The full Senate and House could be poised to take up bills that would bar counties and municipalities from accepting identification cards or documents issued by groups to people who are in the country without the required documentation.
The Republican-controlled Senate Rules Committee and House State Affairs Committee on Wednesday approved the measures (SB 1174 and HB 1451) amid opposition from Democrats.
The bills are positioned to go to the full Senate and House. An immigration bill approved last year barred local governments from providing money for issuing identification cards.
But a Senate staff analysis said “several counties” partnered with local organizations to issue such cards. “Apparently, many of the organizations that issued the ID cards did not inquire into the individual’s immigration status as a condition of issuing the card,” the analysis said.
Senate bill sponsor Blaise Ingoglia, R-Spring Hill, said the legislation is part of Florida being “at the forefront of fighting illegal immigration.”
Critics of the legislation argued that it could put in jeopardy what are known as “community” ID cards.
They said community IDs are used only to identify people and not for such things as driving.
Jackson Oberlink, a lobbyist for the advocacy group Florida Rising criticized what he called “vague” parts of the proposal that would target organizations that issue such cards, which also are used by people who are in the country legally.
“Community IDs are used by Floridians for things as simple as picking up their kids from school or picking up a prescription,” Oberlink said.
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Attorneys for migrants and advocates asked a federal judge for a preliminary injunction against a new Florida law that makes it a felony to transport into the state people who enter the country without the required documentation.
The post Injunction sought against Florida’s new immigration law appeared first on WMNF.
Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office announced a crackdown on driver’s licenses that would not be honored in Florida. Now the list is down to certain types of licenses from two states.
The post Hawaii is dropped from the list of Driver Licenses that Florida won’t honor appeared first on WMNF.
Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson says a new Florida immigration law could bring “unintended consequences” to construction & tourism.
The post Backroom Briefing: Eyeing Florida’s immigration law appeared first on WMNF.
The Florida Supreme Court has approved extending until April the term of a statewide grand jury investigating immigration-related issues.
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Big Gay Book Party in St. Pete With anxieties around book bans and classroom instruction at an all-time high, a St. Petersburg book store held a Big Gay Book Party last Saturday to showcase local LGBTQ authors and offer them a safe space to share their works. Andi Pignato, the marketing director for Book and... Read more »
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Asylum-seekers treated as invaders as Republican politicians scheme against them lead discussion. Revelations about the “Guantanamo Candidate” documentary. Also, President Joe Biden will designate a national monument honoring Emmett Till and his mother. Till was tortured to death in 1955 Mississippi. The killers were acquitted by an all-white jury.
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Listen: Advocacy organizations filed a federal lawsuit last week challenging Florida’s restrictive new immigration law. The law is one of the strongest yet against undocumented immigrants, Governor DeSantis said before signing the bill in May. “We propose strong legislation to curb illegal immigration, both deterring illegal immigrants from coming to Florida but also holding people... Read more »
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Tony Bennett passes at 96 The singer Tony Bennett died today at the age of 96. The AP describes Bennett as an eminent stylist and the last of the great saloon singers whose devotion to classic American songs and knack for creating new standards such as “I Left My Heart In San Francisco” graced a... Read more »
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Last week Democrats from Manatee and Sarasota counties joined a forum on immigration reform with the Longboat Key Democratic Club to look for solutions to addressing one of the most contentious issues in state and national politics. Attorney Emily Brown said 11 million undocumented immigrants are facing problems ranging from deportations, labor exploitation and family... Read more »
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Heather McGhee, a distinguished Senior Fellow at the Public-Policy Center DEMOS deliver a speech which asks “Who is an American?” Has U.S. Democracy become as Unequal as our Economy? Perhaps the question to ask is: Who benefits? She sees a direct connection between today’s extreme inequality and this peak moment of racial panic and white... Read more »
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The Biden administration argued that an appeals court should reject a Florida legal challenge to federal immigration policies.
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Gov. Ron DeSantis announced driver’s licenses from other states that are invalid in Florida under a new law targeting undocumented immigrants.
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The U.S. Supreme Court decided race-conscious Affirmative Action in college admissions is unconstitutional while leaving white privilege in admissions unchecked. Civil Rights legal groups plan a lawsuit to challenge legacy admissions at Harvard. [AP Photo/ Jose Luis Magana, file] ASSOCIATED PRESS We deconstruct the myth of a U S. meritocracy. Also, sharing news on maternal... Read more »
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The League of United Latin American Citizens held a town hall meeting yesterday in Ybor City to help Floridians know their rights and become more vigilant In the wake of SB1718, a new immigration law signed by Governor Ron DeSantis that will make it a felony to bring undocumented people across state lines, and will... Read more »
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Listen: Florida’s new immigration law targeting undocumented immigrants goes into effect on July 1st, and some truckers and other transportation workers are preparing to boycott. The law imposes strict penalties to those who employ undocumented workers. Some Truckers have responded on social media by announcing a plan to boycott driving in Florida. Hannah Workman is... Read more »
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Hundreds of protesters rallied in Tampa, Bradenton, and other Florida cities today in opposition to Florida’s new immigration law. Many fear the law will make criminals out of Tampa residents as they strive to provide for their families while on their path to citizenship.
“¡El pueblo unido jamás será vencido!”
That is the voice of Democratic State Representative Susan Valdes. She is a first-generation US citizen born to Cuban immigrants, and she grew up in the Bronx before resettling in Florida. She said that other states with similar laws are opting to not enforce it.
“Depending on the implementation of this law, it’s going to be problematic for families because so long as you have some sort of documentation that you are here that’s not one of those licenses, which is also problematic, because the reciprocity is now in question if you will, from one state’s driver license to another within the United States.”
Valdes said the result may be instances where people could be charged with a crime that they don’t deserve, even if they have all their ducks in a row. Nancy Salegio was born in Chicago but has lived in Tampa for 45 years. Her parents are US Citizens, but they both immigrated without documentation prior to earning their citizenship. But she’s now concerned that driving relatives in and out of the state could result in a felony charge.
“I’m going to get a felony for that? Does that make any sense? My parents pay taxes for 25 years.”
According to the American Community Survey, immigrants pay nearly half a trillion dollars in taxes. About 15.4% of the total tax revenues governments received from U.S. residents came from immigrant households, while they only made up 14.8% of all U.S. households. Salegio says immigrants are essential to the Florida economy.
“Our economy depends on the immigrants, of course. Without us who is going to build your home? Without us, who is going to do your crops? Everybody is going to pay more money for crops. Houses are not being built. Nobody is going to go eat at the restaurants. It affects everybody. Not only the immigrant people. It affects everybody. It’s a domino effect, and that’s what he doesn’t see.”
Under the new law signed by Governor Ron DeSantis, hospitals are required to ask patients about immigration status, and businesses with 25 or more employees must use the federal E-Verify system. In addition, the state has $12 million available to fund the transport of migrants lacking legal status to other states.
Tampa protest videos and photos:
**Bradenton protest videos and photos:**
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Listen:https://wmnf.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/ImmigrationLaw.mp3The League of United Latin American Citizens, or LULAC, has announced a travel advisory for anyone going to Florida, in light of the state’s new immigration law.
Domingo Garcia, the national president of the League of United Latin American Citizens, or LULAC, said Florida’s new immigration law is forcing the organization to do something they’ve only done once before.
“We’re issuing a travel advisory for anybody traveling to Florida,” Garcia said at a press conference on Wednesday. “Florida is a dangerous, hostile environment for law-abiding Americans and immigrants.”
The law enforces a slew of penalties against people who employ or aid immigrants lacking permanent legal status.
Starting July 1, employers with 25 or more employees have to use the E-Verify system to confirm new workers’ employment eligibility. Employers who don’t use the E-Verify system will be fined $1,000 per day, according to a graphic on Governor Ron DeSantis’ website.
Anyone who assists a minor, or five or more immigrants, in illegally crossing the U.S. border will be subject to a $10,000 fine and up to 15 years in prison. Hospitals will also be required to collect and submit data on the costs of providing health care to these individuals.
Lydia Guzmán, the chair for LULAC’s immigration committee, said she’s concerned this law will prevent immigrants from seeking essential medical care.
“People will die because of this,” Guzmán said. “That is un-Christian, that is un-American.”
LULAC leaders compare this law to Arizona Senate Bill 1070, which made it a state crime to be in the U.S. illegally. It became known as the “show me your papers” law.
According to the Arizona Republic, the law cost businesses $141 million in lost revenue. Guzmán said Florida could suffer a similar economic impact with the state’s new law.
LULAC leaders said they are looking into filing a lawsuit in federal court, as they believe immigration laws should only be enacted at a national, not a state, level.
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Apparently, Gov. Ron DeSantis would have detained and deported his own great-great-grandmother, an undocumented immigrant fleeing from poverty and violence in Southern Italy in 1917. Her story is remarkably similar to the stories of countless migrants fleeing poverty and violence in Central and South America today. Local Immigration lawyers Chelsea Nowel and Ananis Makar joined Shelley for an overview of the new punitive and disruptive Florida immigration laws that threaten the Florida economy and treat undocumented people with a complete lack of dignity.
Florida’s New Immigration LawsAt DeSantis’ urging, the Republican Florida legislature passed new laws that sharply crackdown on the ability of immigrants to work in the U.S. The laws are expected to have a wide-ranging impact on industries critical to the Florida economy. Some farming and construction workers are already too scared to go to work and are considering leaving the state which will cause an enormous staffing crisis for the agriculture and construction businesses. Among other things, the laws also instituted new penalties for transporting undocumented immigrants to Florida, imposes new requirements on companies with 25 or more employees to check immigrants’ status for employment in the Federal E-Verify system, and it makes out-of-state driver’s licenses issued to undocumented immigrants void in Florida. The law also adds another $12 million to the “migrant relocation” program that DeSantis used to round up immigrants in Texas and fly them to Martha’s Vineyard, and just yesterday, DeSantis announced that he intends to send state law enforcement officers, hundreds of state troopers, police and National Guard members, plus boats and planes, to the U.S. Southern border at the expense of Florida taxpayers.
You can listen to the entire episode here, or on the WMNF app, or from our WMNF MidPoint Podcast from your favorite podcast purveyor.
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By Jim Turner ©2023 The News Service of Florida
TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday said Florida “stands ready” and will send Florida National Guard troops and law-enforcement officers to Texas to help with border control as he nears an expected announcement of a White House bid.
DeSantis’ office said in a news release Tuesday afternoon that 800 members of the Florida National Guard, along with Florida Highway Patrol troopers, Florida Department of Law Enforcement officers and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers were available and ready to deploy within 24 hours.
In 2021, DeSantis responded to a request from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and then-Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey by sending more than 50 Florida law-enforcement officers to Texas. The deployment was announced as part of the mutual-aid effort to protect Florida, in part because of drugs crossing the border and ending up in Florida.
During an appearance Tuesday before his office’s news release, DeSantis criticized the Biden administration’s handling of immigration issues and said he had offered personnel, boats and planes to assist Texas with migrants trying to come into the country.
“We’re staying on them (the Biden administration), the state of Florida is, because it’s a really important issue to actually have sovereignty in our country and have the rule of law upheld,” DeSantis said during a bill-signing event in Lighthouse Point.
On Monday, Pensacola-based U.S. District Judge T. Kent Wetherell denied a motion by the Biden administration to stay a temporary restraining order that blocked a federal immigration policy that could lead to large numbers of migrants being released into the country. Wetherell’s ruling came in a lawsuit filed by Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody.
In the news release Tuesday, DeSantis’ office cited what is known as the Emergency Management Assistance Compact, an agreement in which states can provide resources to each other in times of emergency.
Earlier this month, Biden sent 1,500 U.S. troops to the U.S.-Mexico border for a 90-day deployment in anticipation of an increase in immigration as a COVID-19 border restriction known as Title 42 was ending. Those troops were sent to supplement the work of U.S. Customs and Border Protection and not carry out law enforcement, according to the Pentagon.
Asked about the border Sunday while in Delaware, Biden said things were much “better than you all expected” and that the numbers of migrants seeking asylum were going down, according to a White House transcript.
“Well, look, they are — they have gone down,” Biden said. “My hope is they’ll continue to go down, but we have more — a lot more work to do. And we need some more help from the Congress as well in terms of funding and legislative changes.”
In addition to sending troops and law-enforcement officers, the DeSantis administration news release Tuesday said Florida would make available five fixed-wing airplanes, two mobile command vehicles, 17 drones and 10 marine vessels, such as airboats and shallow-draft vessels.
DeSantis, who is widely expected to announce a run for the presidency, and Moody have long criticized Biden’s border policies. They argue, in part, that undocumented immigrants coming into Florida create costs for services such as schools, health care and prisons.
Moody has filed two federal lawsuits in Pensacola against the Biden administration about immigration policies. That included the case that led to Wetherell issuing a temporary restraining order Thursday against a policy known as “parole with conditions.”
The Biden administration issued the policy to help address an expected surge of migrants coming into the country because of the expiration of the Title 42 order.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Friday called Wetherell’s ruling “harmful,” accused Republican elected officials of “political stunts” and said “they don’t want to solve this problem. They want to use it, again, as a campaign tool for them.”
DeSantis signed controversial legislation last week that stepped up requirements on businesses to check the immigration status of workers, cracked down on people who bring undocumented immigrants into Florida and required data on whether hospital patients are in the country legally.
The post Florida will send troops, officers and other resources to Texas appeared first on WMNF.
By Jim Turner ©2023 The News Service of Florida
TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday said Florida “stands ready” and will send Florida National Guard troops and law-enforcement officers to Texas to help with border control as he nears an expected announcement of a White House bid.
DeSantis’ office said in a news release Tuesday afternoon that 800 members of the Florida National Guard, along with Florida Highway Patrol troopers, Florida Department of Law Enforcement officers and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers were available and ready to deploy within 24 hours.
In 2021, DeSantis responded to a request from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and then-Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey by sending more than 50 Florida law-enforcement officers to Texas. The deployment was announced as part of the mutual-aid effort to protect Florida, in part because of drugs crossing the border and ending up in Florida.
During an appearance Tuesday before his office’s news release, DeSantis criticized the Biden administration’s handling of immigration issues and said he had offered personnel, boats and planes to assist Texas with migrants trying to come into the country.
“We’re staying on them (the Biden administration), the state of Florida is, because it’s a really important issue to actually have sovereignty in our country and have the rule of law upheld,” DeSantis said during a bill-signing event in Lighthouse Point.
On Monday, Pensacola-based U.S. District Judge T. Kent Wetherell denied a motion by the Biden administration to stay a temporary restraining order that blocked a federal immigration policy that could lead to large numbers of migrants being released into the country. Wetherell’s ruling came in a lawsuit filed by Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody.
In the news release Tuesday, DeSantis’ office cited what is known as the Emergency Management Assistance Compact, an agreement in which states can provide resources to each other in times of emergency.
Earlier this month, Biden sent 1,500 U.S. troops to the U.S.-Mexico border for a 90-day deployment in anticipation of an increase in immigration as a COVID-19 border restriction known as Title 42 was ending. Those troops were sent to supplement the work of U.S. Customs and Border Protection and not carry out law enforcement, according to the Pentagon.
Asked about the border Sunday while in Delaware, Biden said things were much “better than you all expected” and that the numbers of migrants seeking asylum were going down, according to a White House transcript.
“Well, look, they are — they have gone down,” Biden said. “My hope is they’ll continue to go down, but we have more — a lot more work to do. And we need some more help from the Congress as well in terms of funding and legislative changes.”
In addition to sending troops and law-enforcement officers, the DeSantis administration news release Tuesday said Florida would make available five fixed-wing airplanes, two mobile command vehicles, 17 drones and 10 marine vessels, such as airboats and shallow-draft vessels.
DeSantis, who is widely expected to announce a run for the presidency, and Moody have long criticized Biden’s border policies. They argue, in part, that undocumented immigrants coming into Florida create costs for services such as schools, health care and prisons.
Moody has filed two federal lawsuits in Pensacola against the Biden administration about immigration policies. That included the case that led to Wetherell issuing a temporary restraining order Thursday against a policy known as “parole with conditions.”
The Biden administration issued the policy to help address an expected surge of migrants coming into the country because of the expiration of the Title 42 order.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Friday called Wetherell’s ruling “harmful” and accused Republican elected officials of “political stunts” and said “they don’t want to solve this problem. They want to use it, again, as a campaign tool for them.”
DeSantis signed controversial legislation last week that stepped up requirements on businesses to check the immigration status of workers, cracked down on people who bring undocumented immigrants into Florida and required data on whether hospital patients are in the country legally.
The post Ron DeSantis is sending troops and officers from Florida to Texas appeared first on WMNF.
The Florida Senate on Friday could pass a bill targeting illegal immigration, including by beefing up requirements for businesses to check the immigration status of workers and requiring hospitals to collect data about whether patients are in the country legally.
The Republican-controlled Senate took up the bill (SB 1718) on Thursday and rejected amendments proposed by Democrats.
The bill is a priority of Gov. Ron DeSantis, who frequently criticizes the federal government about undocumented immigrants coming into the country.
“The problem is that … as states, we keep on creating incentives for people to come across illegally,” bill sponsor Blaise Ingoglia, R-Spring Hill, said. “Until the states push back, which is what we are doing now, the federal government will never act. We are trying to force them into action.”
But Democrats said immigration is a federal issue, not a state issue.
“The sponsor talks about the Southern border,” Sen. Bobby Powell, D-West Palm Beach, said. “He’s talking about the Southern border of the United States. Florida has no Southern border. Florida is surrounded by water. Florida only has a Northern border.”
The bill, in part, would require all businesses with 25 or more employees to use the federal E-Verify system to check the immigration status of workers.
Since 2021, such businesses have been required to use E-Verify or what are known as I-9 forms.
Among other things, the bill would require hospitals to ask patients about whether they are U.S. citizens or are in the country legally.
Hospitals would be required to submit reports about the responses to the state.
A similar House bill (HB 1617) is positioned to go to the full House.
©2023 The News Service of Florida
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By Jim Saunders ©2023 The News Service of Florida
TALLAHASSEE — In a win for Gov. Ron DeSantis and Republican lawmakers, a federal appeals court Thursday tossed out a challenge to a 2019 immigration law that banned so-called sanctuary cities in Florida.
A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a ruling by a South Florida district judge that blocked parts of the controversial law. The appeals court also ordered the dismissal of the lawsuit because it said plaintiffs did not have legal standing to challenge the law.
Several groups, such as the Florida Immigrant Coalition and the Farmworker Association of Florida, filed the lawsuit in July 2019, raising constitutional issues and alleging discriminatory intent in the law (SB 168). But Thursday’s ruling said, in part, the groups could not show proof of “actual injury” needed to establish standing.
“First, the organizations maintain that their members have suffered, and will continue to suffer, racial profiling by law enforcement complying with SB 168. Second, the organizations assert that they have diverted resources from existing programs to respond to SB 168. Neither theory holds water,” said the 28-page ruling written by Chief Judge William Pryor and joined by Judges Stanley Marcus and Kathryn Kimball Mizelle.
While the ruling was based on a lack of legal standing, the Atlanta-based appeals court also took issue with U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom’s underlying decision.
“Because the organizations lack standing, we cannot opine on the merits of this case,” Pryor wrote. “But our holding that the organizations lack standing should not be read as suggesting that we agree with the district court on the merits. Indeed, we have grave doubts about the merits, but the district court lacked jurisdiction to rule on them.”
The Republican-controlled Legislature passed the law in May 2019 along nearly straight party lines after heavy debate. In a September 2021 decision, Bloom said two major parts of the law violated constitutional equal-protection rights and issued a permanent injunction against them.
One of those parts banned state and local agencies from having sanctuary policies that would prevent law-enforcement officials from cooperating with federal immigration-enforcement efforts.
The other part required law-enforcement agencies to use “best efforts” to support the enforcement of federal immigration laws.
Bloom delved extensively into the Legislature’s development of the law and pointed to what she described as an “immigrant threat narrative” that helped lead to it.
“Based on the evidence presented, the court finds that plaintiffs have proven by a preponderance of the evidence that SB 168 has discriminatory or disparate effects on racial and ethnic minorities, and these discriminatory effects were both foreseeable and known to the Legislature at the time of SB 168’s enactment,” she wrote.
Bloom earlier in the case issued an injunction against part of the law that dealt with state and local law enforcement officers transporting people with immigration detainers to federal facilities. She said that part was “preempted” by federal immigration law and, as a result, was unconstitutional.
But in Thursday’s ruling, the appeals court said the organizations challenging the law had “not established that their members face present harm or a ‘certainly impending’ threat of racial profiling as a result of SB 168.”
“Instead of suing immediately to enjoin enforcement of SB 168, the organizations would have been better off waiting for concrete evidence that the enforcement of SB 168 would lead to profiling,” the ruling said. “In this sense, their challenge is not ripe for judgment. Even if the organizations could prove that local officers profiled their members, they have not proved that the officers acted based on SB 168.”
The ruling also said Gov. Ron DeSantis and Attorney General Ashley Moody should not have been defendants in the case.
“The record lacks any evidence that links the governor or attorney general to racial profiling by local officers under SB 168,” Pryor wrote. “That absence of proof makes sense because SB 168 provides the governor with few, if any, tools to make the judgment calls that might result in racial profiling. Federal officials tell local officials which individuals are subject to a detainer. Federal officials request cooperation. Local officials make the arrests. Local officials transport detainees to federal custody. SB 168 does not involve the governor or attorney general in incidents of racial profiling.”
The ruling came as lawmakers consider proposals (SB 1718 and HB 1617) that would take additional steps to target illegal immigration. The bills are pending in Senate and House committees.
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By Jim Saunders ©2023 The News Service of Florida
TALLAHASSEE — A Leon County circuit judge Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit filed after Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration sparked controversy in September by flying about 50 migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts.
DeSantis administration attorneys argued that the lawsuit, filed by state Sen. Jason Pizzo, D-Hollywood, became moot when the Legislature this month passed a law aimed at bolstering efforts to transport migrants to “sanctuary” areas of the country.
During a late-afternoon hearing Wednesday, Circuit Judge John Cooper dismissed the lawsuit after Pizzo’s attorney, Mark Herron, acknowledged that it should end.
The lawsuit contended that a section of the state budget used to pay for the September flights was unconstitutional because it created a new program and changed laws about issues such as contracting. The law passed this month took a series of steps to address the legal issues raised by Pizzo.
Pizzo, an attorney, briefly addressed the judge Wednesday and said he achieved what he sought in the lawsuit, at least in part because it spurred the Legislature to make changes.
“We got what we asked for,” he said.
Cooper said the dismissal should not be construed as a decision on the constitutional issues in the case. He said the dismissal stemmed from the legislative changes.
“Each side can take what they wish,” Cooper said.
The lawsuit dealt with the interplay of the state budget and substantive laws. Broadly, issues in the annual budget are not supposed to change more-permanent laws.
The Republican-controlled Legislature last year included $12 million in the budget for the Department of Transportation to carry out a “program to facilitate the transport of unauthorized aliens from this state.”
The DeSantis administration used $615,000 of that money to pay Vertol Systems Company, Inc. to fly the migrants Sept. 14 from San Antonio, Texas, to Martha’s Vineyard, with a brief stop in the Northwest Florida community of Crestview. Also, four additional Vertol purchase orders of $950,000 each are listed on a state contracting website for “relocation services.”
Legislative staff analyses said $1.565 million had been spent as of Jan. 31, leaving a balance of $10.435 million from the original $12 million.
With Pizzo’s constitutional challenge pending, the Legislature on Feb. 10 passed a law that effectively sought to neutralize the legal arguments.
In part, the law repealed the part of the budget that was used as a basis for the flights and created the Unauthorized Alien Transport Program in state law. Also, the bill funneled remaining money provided in the budget section back to state coffers, and allocated $10 million to the newly created program — effectively swapping out money.
After DeSantis signed the bill last week, administration attorneys filed a motion to dismiss the case because of mootness.
“Here, it is indisputable that SB 6-B repeals (the section of the budget),” the motion to dismiss said. “Moreover, by repealing (the section) the Legislature effectively gave plaintiff (Pizzo) precisely what he requested. It eliminated the challenged appropriation, which allegedly amended substantive law, thereby ensuring it cannot be used to transfer unauthorized aliens.”
DeSantis, who is a potential 2024 presidential candidate, frequently criticizes Democratic President Joe Biden on border and immigration issues. Pizzo said after Wednesday’s hearing that DeSantis is trying to use the newly passed program for political purposes and to set up a “showdown.”
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By Jim Saunders ©2023 The News Service of Florida
TALLAHASSEE — Nearly five months after Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration sparked controversy by flying about 50 migrants from Texas to Massachusetts, Florida House members Monday started moving forward with a proposal that could help set the stage for more flights.
The Republican-controlled House Appropriations Committee voted along party lines to approve a bill (HB 5B) that would create the “Unauthorized Alien Transport Program” at the state Division of Emergency Management and shift $10 million to fund it.
The bill would address issues that led to a legal challenge after the September flights, including making clear that $1.565 million already spent by the DeSantis administration is “deemed approved.”
Republican supporters of the bill blasted the Biden administration’s handling of border issues and said they are trying to curb undocumented immigrants coming into Florida. They said the measure is aimed at transporting migrants to “sanctuary” areas of the country.
“In essence, a signal has been sent that the border is open and that folks are welcome. … What I have seen is an abject failure of the Biden administration to do anything with the migrant surge we’re seeing at the Southern border,” bill sponsor John Snyder, R-Stuart said.
But Democrats said Florida should not spend money to move migrants from other states and that the bill does not include accountability for how the money would be used.
“This should not be the priority of the state of Florida. It just should not be,” Rep. Kelly Skidmore, D-Boca Raton, said. “This feels very stunt-like. It feels very political. It does not feel like it’s solving a problem.”
Lawmakers last year included $12 million in the state budget for the Department of Transportation to carry out a “program to facilitate the transport of unauthorized aliens from this state.” The DeSantis administration used $615,000 of that money to pay Vertol Systems Company, Inc. to transport two planeloads of migrants on Sept. 14 from San Antonio, Texas, to Martha’s Vineyard, with a stop in the Northwest Florida community of Crestview.
While the state spent $615,000 on the September flights, four additional Vertol purchase orders of $950,000 each are listed on a state contracting website for “relocation services.” A House staff analysis Monday said that $1.565 million had been spent as of Jan. 31.
Sen. Jason Pizzo, D-Hollywood, filed a constitutional challenge after the flights drew national attention.
The lawsuit, which remains pending in Leon County circuit court, deals with the interplay of the state budget and substantive laws. The lawsuit contends that part of the budget used to pay for the flights violated the Florida Constitution because it created a new program and changed laws about issues such as contracting.
The new bill, which cleared the House Appropriations Committee on the first day of a special legislative session, would address issues in Pizzo’s lawsuit.
As an example, it would repeal the part of the budget that was used as a basis for the flights and would create the Unauthorized Alien Transport Program in law. Also, the remaining money provided in the budget would be funneled back to state coffers, and $10 million would be allocated to the newly created program — effectively swapping out money.
Pizzo said Monday he thinks the bill is designed to scuttle the lawsuit.
“Of course, they’re trying to make it moot,” Pizzo told reporters.
DeSantis, who is widely mentioned as a potential 2024 presidential candidate, frequently criticizes the Biden administration over immigration issues. In addition to the Pizzo case, the flights have drawn a constitutional challenge in federal court in Massachusetts.
The Senate Fiscal Policy Committee is scheduled Tuesday to take up the Senate version of Snyder’s bill (SB 6-B).
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By Jim Saunders ©2023 The News Service of Florida
TALLAHASSEE — A Leon County circuit judge will hear arguments Friday about whether he should toss out a lawsuit filed by a South Florida state senator after Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration flew about 50 migrants from Texas to Massachusetts in September.
Sen. Jason Pizzo, D-North Miami Beach, contends in the lawsuit that part of the state budget used to pay for the flights violates the Florida Constitution and that the DeSantis administration improperly infringed on the federal government’s authority over immigration issues.
But attorneys for DeSantis, the Florida Department of Transportation and state Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis filed motions last week to dismiss the case. Circuit Judge John Cooper, who rejected an earlier version of the lawsuit in November, is slated to hold a hearing Friday on a revised complaint.
The case focuses primarily on $12 million that lawmakers included in the state budget for the Department of Transportation to carry out a “program to facilitate the transport of unauthorized aliens from this state.”
The DeSantis administration contracted with Vertol Systems Company, Inc. to transport two planeloads of migrants on Sept. 14 from San Antonio, Texas, to Martha’s Vineyard, with a stop in the Northwest Florida community of Crestview.
The Department of Transportation paid $615,000 to Vertol for the flights. Also, three additional Vertol purchase orders of $950,000 each are listed on a state contracting website for “relocation services.”
The flights spurred a national controversy and came as DeSantis, widely considered a possible 2024 Republican presidential candidate, often criticizes federal immigration policies.
Pizzo’s lawsuit argues, in part, that the section of the budget violates the Florida Constitution because it revised such things as procurement standards and created a new program. It said such changes would need to be made in substantive laws — rather than through the annual budget.
The lawsuit said it is seeking a declaration that the section of the budget is unconstitutional and an injunction “preventing defendants from continuing to spend monies unconstitutionally appropriated and to recoup monies already spent pursuant to the unconstitutional provision.”
Also, the lawsuit contends that the state violated what is known as the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution because the federal government has authority over immigration issues.
The lawsuit said that under the U.S. Constitution, “Congress is vested with exclusive power over immigration and naturalization. Under that and other constitutional and statutory authority, the federal government has exclusive authority to enact and enforce regulations concerning which immigrants to admit, exclude, remove or allow to remain in the United States.”
But in a motion to dismiss the case filed last week, attorneys for DeSantis and the Department of Transportation argued that Pizzo does not have legal standing to pursue the lawsuit. The motion said, in part, that Pizzo had not “alleged that he suffered any special injury.”
Also, the motion disputed Pizzo’s constitutional arguments. As an example, the state’s attorneys refuted the argument that the budget was used to improperly create a new program. The motion said the budget is frequently used to create programs, including at least five in the current spending plan.
“Prior appropriations have included similar language, which appears not to have engendered constitutional controversy,” the motion said.
Also, the DeSantis administration disputed violating federal authority on immigration issues.
“It (the section of the budget) does not regulate the flow of aliens into or out of the United States or determine anybody’s citizenship status; rather it makes funds available to facilitate the transport of consenting unauthorized aliens from Florida to other states,” the motion said.
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Two top aides to Gov. Ron DeSantis were added as defendants in a potential class-action lawsuit related to migrant flights from Texas to Florida to Martha's Vineyard.
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Florida is appealing a court order requiring it to provide records about a decision to fly migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard.
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A judge has rejected subpoenas seeking to force aides to Gov. Ron DeSantis to testify about Florida's controversial migrant flights.
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An open-government group has filed a lawsuit against FDOT & a contractor alleging they broke public-records laws re: migrant flights to Mass.
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Former Chair of the Florida ACLU Legal Panel James Shaw Jr. joined Shelley for an open discussion to share some of the interesting legal issues in the news.
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Gov. Ron DeSantis defended Florida’s participation in flights carrying about 50 migrants that landed Wednesday at Martha’s Vineyard Airport.
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This week, MidPoint hosts columnist William March and Rep. Andrew Learned to discuss the legislation that has passed in this year's session.
The post MidPoint’s Legislative Wrap-Up: The Good, The Bad and the Ugly appeared first on WMNF.
A Polk County woman who became the subject of a Netflix documentary after facing deportation has been reunited with her family. It took nearly three years for Angel Juarez to get home and she is still fighting for permanent status. LISTEN: Juarez still comes to tears when she thinks about the day she was forced... Read more »
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An advocate for immigrants describes what she saw at the Homestead detention center under the Trump administration and what she’s concerned about today on the U.S.-Mexico border. Joining WMNF’s MidPoint live by Zoom is Marina Welch. WMNF spoke with her a couple of years ago about what she saw at the Trump administration’s Homestead detention... Read more »
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A union representing farm workers across the country Thursday delivered a petition to the U.S. Department of Labor calling for an end to what it calls corrupt practices among labor contractors who hire migrant workers using the H-2A visa program. The move comes after the union said a Florida-based contractor still hasn’t paid back stolen... Read more »
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Radioactivity with Rob Lorei Listen Here: Or follow this link and select 02/19/20 from the drop down menu: Radioactivity: Interviews & Live Call-In Intro: Our guest today will be speaking afternoon at the St. Petersburg Conference on World Affairs (http://www.stpetersburgconferenceonworldaffairs.com) . He’s Andreas Siegel Germany’s Consul General in Florida. We sat down for this interview... Read more »
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(Originally published 4/26/2019) A lot. Florida’s legislature has 60 days (though special sessions can be, and are often, called) to make lots of laws. In odd numbered years, like 2019, the session begins the first Tuesday after the first Monday in March. This year our legislature is in session from March 5, 2019, through May... Read more »
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Last week, video was released of a migrant teenager who died in U.S. Border Patrol custody; it’s deaths like this – and of outright violence by U.S. border officers — that triggered activists to hold a vigil Tuesday afternoon in Ybor City. A small group held what they’re calling a “solidarity vigil” across the street... Read more »
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After this story aired, the date of the protest was changed because of Hurricane Dorian. The “Fight Hate With Unity: Protest Against Immigrant Dehumanization” demonstration has been rescheduled for Saturday, September 7, 2019 from 3:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. at Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park, 600 N. Ashley Dr. in Tampa. The original story appears below. ... Read more »
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Radioactivity with Rob Lorei Listen Here: Select 08/27/19 from the drop down menu Radioactivity: Interviews & Live Call-In Intro: Good morning, welcome to Radioactivity. I’m Rob Lorei. Coming up– we’ll look at immigration, why people come here- sometimes risking their lives. And how they are treated once they get here. BOSTON (AP) — The Trump... Read more »
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This is an editorial statement from the Nathan B Stubblefield Foundation Board of Directors The current treatment of migrants and asylum seekers by our national government has reached the point of cruelty and human rights abuses. Daily, we hear the stories of families separated, children deprived of basic sanitation, and people locked in crowded spaces for weeks on end. This is an unacceptable way to treat anyone. We urge U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Health and Human Services to find a humane solution immediately at whatever the necessary cost. We urge our listeners to contact their congressperson and US senators to voice their opposition and to donate to non-profit organizations like Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services, Kids In Need of Defense, and Freedom for Immigrants, who provide legal counsel and monitoring. We believe our country can and should be better than this. The post WMNF Board Statement On The Treatment of Migrants in the US appeared first on WMNF.