Florida lawmakers approve a bill aimed at keeping undocumented immigrants out of the state

Critics say it poses a threat to thousands of migrants in the state whose temporary visas have expired or whose applications for asylum already are in the pipeline.

Delivering on one of Gov. Ron Desantis’ top legislative priorities, the Florida House on Wednesday passed an immigration bill targeting transportation companies that bring undocumented immigrants into the state and expanding a 2019 law that sought to ban so-called “sanctuary cities.”

The bill (SB 1808), among the 2022 legislative session’s most-contentious issues, would prohibit state and local government agencies from contracting with companies “if the carrier is willfully providing any service in furtherance of transporting a person into the state of Florida knowing that the person is an unauthorized alien, except to facilitate the detention, removal or deportation of the person” from the state or the U.S.

The measure also would define unauthorized alien as “a person who is unlawfully present in the United States” according to the Federal Immigration and Nationality Act.

Critics of the bill, which the Senate approved last week, maintain that it poses a threat to thousands of migrants in the state whose temporary visas have expired or whose applications for asylum already are in the pipeline.

Desantis has repeatedly criticized the Biden administration on immigration issues during the past year and has taken steps such as sending Florida law-enforcement officers to Texas to aid with border issues.

During debate on the House floor Wednesday, Republicans railed against so-called “ghost flights” bringing undocumented immigrants into the state and repeatedly expressed support for migrants who enter the country in what they called “the right way.”

Rep. Webster Barnaby, a Deltona Republican who emigrated from England, said he waited 11 years before his U.S. citizenship was finalized.

“What we have happening today in the United States … is nothing short of an invasion,” Barnaby said. “I didn’t come to America to invade America. I came to America in the right way. And it’s absolutely amazing to me to see that a country wants to implode and destroy itself not from outside but from within.”

The proposal coincides with an administrative effort by Desantis to shutter shelters that provide housing and other services to unaccompanied children whose immigration or refugee status is being processed after they enter the country.

Democrats argued Wednesday that the legislation targets people fleeing from countries overrun with violence and poverty, including unaccompanied minors. They accused Republican legislators, who hold significant majorities in both the House and Senate, of using the bill to score points with rightleaning GOP voters.

“This is another example of political rhetoric and campaigns that’s created into a bill,” Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-orlando, said. “This entire bill is a façade being used to boost up campaign coffers in 2022 and 2024, because I know the second this bill is signed by the governor, there’ll be a fundraising email coming out right after.”

The governor, widely seen as a potential contender for president in 2024, boasted about the bill during an appearance last month at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando.

But in a letter to legislative leaders last week, organizations representing Florida’s Venezuelan-american community decried the bill, arguing that it would put thousands of workers at risk of deportation.

“Every time we pass another bill like this, it sends a message to those families, and mine as well, that they’re not welcome here anymore. It chips away at the soul, bit by bit, and eventually will change the character of who we are as a nation,” said Rep. Susan Valdés, a Tampa Democrat whose parents emigrated from Cuba.

Republicans argued that undocumented immigrants entering the state on so-called “ghost” flights pose a threat to Floridians’ safety.

By Dara Kam