2023 was big in Florida immigration politics. 2024 may be bigger.
TAMPA — In 2023, a surge in migration highlighted the escalating crisis at the U.S. southern border.
Here were some of the most important developments:
Border crisis and security concerns
Federal authorities made more than 2.2 million arrests at the U.S.-Mexico border in 2023, one of the highest ever recorded, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The arrival of tens of thousands who left homes in the Caribbean and Latin America represented a challenge not only for government agencies but also for nonprofit organizations, community groups and public schools.
In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis mobilized the state’s National Guard a year ago to respond to migrants landing in the Florida Keys from Cuba. In June, DeSantis sent hundreds of law enforcement officers and National Guard soldiers to Texas to help secure the southern border. His administration spent $3.3 million on the deployment of 650 state personnel.
The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program
The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, an executive action signed by former President Barack Obama in 2012, again found itself at the center of debate in 2023. The program, which protects those who were brought to the U.S. as children from deportation, was found unlawful on Sept. 13 by U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen in a case that could end with a U.S. Supreme Court decision next year.
The program provides recipients with a Social Security number so they can legally work and allows them to renew their employment status every two years. It doesn’t offer a path to citizenship or the right to vote.
Under Hanen’s decision, all current recipients may continue to renew their work authorizations as the case moves forward on appeal. The U.S. Department of
Justice and The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund each filed notices that they’ll appeal Hanen’s decision.
An estimated 611,470 people, known as Dreamers, fall under the program. According to FWD. us, 23,600 Dreamers in Florida pay $290 million in annual federal, state and local taxes. Dreamers comprise 21% of Florida’s immigrant population without a permanent legal status, and 60% have lived in the U.S. for more than a decade.
Expanding temporary protected status
In 2023, the Biden administration expanded the temporary protected status of an additional 472,000 Venezuelans who entered the U.S. by July 31. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas said the decision was made because conditions in Venezuela prevented the safe return of its citizens. If a person obtains
temporary protected status, that person can apply for a work permit immediately.
The decision will have benefits that extend far beyond the recipients themselves, said Debu Gandhi, senior director of immigration policy at the Center for American Progress. The U.S. is grappling with a labor shortage in key industries.
“Receiving the work permission that comes along with (temporary protected status) allows migrants to better support themselves and their families and contribute to the U.S. economy,” Gandhi said.
The Venezuelan population in the U.S. has grown from 95,000 in 2000 to more than 660,000 in 2022, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Approximately half of the Venezuelans in the U.S. live in Florida.
Deportation flights
In April, Cuba allowed the resumption of deportations of Cubans from the United States once a month, ending a long pause. The last flight of this kind was in
December 2020, according to The Associated Press.
This year, deportation flights to Venezuela also resumed following an agreement between the Venezuelan government and the opposition to improve electoral conditions. Since October, the Department of Homeland Security has ordered eight such flights.
Sponsors to assist newcomers
Under pressure to address the influx, the Biden administration announced early this year that the U.S. would accept 30,000 people a month from Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Haiti under a parole designation. The program matches American sponsors with potential refugees. Sponsors provide newcomers with support and housing for up to a two-year period of parole. They must ensure immigrants can find basic services and must help refugees learn English and find jobs.
More than 270,000 people have been admitted under this initiative. Texas and 19 Republican-led states, including Florida, sued the administration to stop the program. U.S. District Judge Drew Tipton in Victoria, Texas, who was appointed by the Trump administration, has not yet issued a decision, but in the past, has ruled against Biden’s immigration policies.
Florida enforces tough laws
In July, Florida enacted one of the strongest laws, SB 1718, to restrict the flow of unauthorized immigration. Among its provisions: It makes it a third-degree felony charge for someone who “knowingly and willfully” transports a person without legal status into the state, and invalidates driver’s licenses issued by other states for people unable to prove lawful residency in the country. It also requires businesses with 25 or more employees to use a federal database to check IDs and work permits, and mandates that hospitals accepting Medicaid collect information on patients’ legal status.
The law prompted protests by Latino groups in various cities across the state and led to a lawsuit challenging the part of it that criminalizes the transportation of individuals without legal permanent status.
What’s next in 2024?
Immigration will continue to be a key issue.
The Biden administration will evaluate new restrictions at the border and asylum policies to help secure an agreement in the Senate to increase military aid to Ukraine. In Florida, lawmakers will deliberate on a proposal, SB 1036, that aims to impose more severe penalties on immigrants who have been arrested for felonies after illegally reentering following deportation for previous crimes. In Texas, a new law in March will allow police to arrest migrants who cross the U.S.-Mexico border illegally and give local judges the authority to order such immigrants to leave the country.