Ferret out the immigrants who are in America illegally

Immigration continues to be a divisive issue in America. The core question is whether we should have secure borders with robust internal enforcement and proper vetting of legal immigrants, or open borders and uncontrolled migration. The principle of national sovereignty and the necessity of national security, especially given the threat posed by radical Islamic terrorism, clearly compel the former. Therefore, we owe it to current and future generations to end illegal immigration and force all aspiring immigrants to follow the law. Opposing this view are many on the left who believe in open borders and amnesty for those who enter or remain in our country illegally.

This fundamental policy debate continues against the backdrop of America having one of the most generous legal immigration systems in the world. We allow over 1.1 million legal immigrants to enter our country each year, many based on no qualification other than that they have a distant relative who is already here. Our legal immigration system is undermined by a parallel system that was encouraged by the two previous presidential administrations through policies like “catch and release.” Porous borders and lax internal enforcement during those administrations have led to more than 11 million unauthorized aliens being in the country. Thankfully, President Trump is keeping his promise to make America safe again by taking bold and courageous steps to strengthen our national sovereignty and security, and enforce the rule of law. However, for effective internal immigration enforcement, the federal government needs the cooperation of state and local governments.

Unfortunately, and inexplicably, so-called “sanctuary” policies have been adopted by some state and local governments in order to thwart immigration enforcement and shield unauthorized criminal aliens from deportation. In 2015, this outrageous practice by San Francisco led to the horrific killing of Kate Steinle by an unauthorized alien who had been convicted of seven felonies and deported five times. San Francisco’s sanctuary policy prohibited the sheriff from honoring a detainer request from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and instead compelled the unauthorized alien’s release after state drug charges were dropped. Soon after his release, he shot and killed Kate Steinle in the presence of her father. Had the sheriff honored ICE’s detainer request, Kate Steinle would be alive today.

Sanctuary policies are unacceptable and should not be tolerated in Florida. To that end I have sponsored the Rule of Law Adherence Act, seeking to ban sanctuary policies in Florida and prevent tragedies like the one that claimed Kate Steinle. In 2016 and 2017, the Florida House passed my ROLAA bills, but the Florida Senate did not hold any hearings, effectively killing them.

This year ROLAA (House Bill 9) defines and prohibits sanctuary policies, and requires repeal of existing sanctuary policies; requires state and local governmental entities to cooperate with federal immigration authorities; requires compliance with detainer requests; authorizes the attorney general or a state attorney to investigate complaints and seek injunctive relief and a civil penalty of $1,000 to $5,000 for each day the violation existed; makes a violation by an elected official grounds for removal from office; provides that a violation renders the sanctuary jurisdiction ineligible for non-federal grants for five years; and creates a civil remedy for damages against a sanctuary jurisdiction for personal injury or wrongful death caused by a sanctuary policy.

To sustain our legal immigration system, we must faithfully enforce the laws that establish it and uphold the important distinction between legal and illegal immigration. To do otherwise sends the wrong message about our resolve to enforce the rule of law and will result in more illegal immigration. The Rule of Law Adherence Act will improve public safety by helping the federal government remove criminal unauthorized aliens from our state while encouraging use of the legal immigration system that has brought many generations of worthy legal immigrants to our country since the early years of the republic.

Force all aspiring immigrants to follow the law.