DeSantis' Immigrant Crackdown Law Nearing Passage

Florida's legislature is pushing through legislation that its proponents say will end benefits that serve as "incentives" for illegal immigrants to come to the state while cracking down on immigrant smuggling and other provisions seen as benefiting migrants.

"Why does anybody want to actually go through the process of actually becoming legal when all of these benefits are out there which are, I would argue, incentives for people to come over illegally," Republican state Sen. Blaise Ingoglia said Tuesday, while the legislature was marking up his proposal before the Senate Committee on Fiscal Policy passed the recommendations, reports The Washington Examiner.

Ingoglia's bill, SB 1718, mirrors Gov. Ron DeSantis' recommendations from February, and not only removes incentives but would enact criminal charges on several violations including immigrants.

"We are compassionate here in the United States, but that compassion has created incentives to foster more illegal immigration," Ingoglia said. "That is the focus of this bill — to make sure that we are taking away as many of the incentives as possible in hopes that other states like Texas and Arizona do the same and force the federal government to get off their butt and fix the problem."

The bill, if passed, would not affect all illegal immigrants. Those who crossed the border illegally but were taken into custody by the Border Patrol and who are awaiting court proceedings that may not happen until years from now will not face restrictions under the legislation, but those who came across the border and evaded law enforcement, and have no record of arrest or parole, would be impacted.

Ingoglia and other senators Tuesday said they were not sure if the bill will affect immigrants who overstay their visas or those who fall under the Obama administration's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or "Dreamers" program.

The bill now heads to the Senate floor before returning to the House for a final vote. Its passage would serve as an achievement for DeSantis, who says the proposal is the nation's strongest measure against illegal immigration, as the bill would become law ahead of his expected 2024 presidential campaign announcement.

Lawmakers addressed one complaint by faith leaders during a House markup Monday. The original House Bill made it a felony offense to transport immigrants illegally across state lines or inside Florida, and religious leaders said that provision could put church employees or members at the risk of arrest if they take children who are in the country illegally to church functions.

However, the bill still enhances penalties for smuggling immigrants in Florida and includes strict penalties against smugglers who are younger than 18 years old.

The legislation also makes $22 million available for Florida to use to transport illegal immigrants to other states. It had initially contained $12 million, but Ingoglia said Tuesday that the measure includes $10 million this year and $12 million for next year.

The legislation will also make all out-of-state driver's licenses issued to illegal immigrants invalid in Florida. This includes licenses issued to at least 1 million immigrants in California. In addition, local governments in Florida will also be barred from allowing illegal immigrants to have local IDs, and registered voters will have to affirm they are U.S. citizens.

The legislation further forbids illegal immigrants from obtaining a license to practice law and imposes financial penalties on businesses that hire employees without legal status or who have fake documents.

The measure also includes a provision requiring hospitals that collect Medicaid dollars to include a question on patient forms asking if the person is in the county illegally, even though the forms will note that nobody will be refused care or reported to federal immigration authorities.

Still, the data will be shared with the state government, and Ingoglia defended the provision, saying it will allow the state to "get a handle on how much we are spending on illegal immigrants in our emergency rooms."