Florida Senate backs controversial immigration changes

Bill would crack down on undocumented immigrants in a variety of ways.

With Democrats saying the proposal could lead to racial profiling, the Florida Senate on Friday passed an immigration package that Republican supporters said is aimed at forcing the federal government to address an “invasion” of migrants into the country.

The bill includes a number of provisions requested by Gov. Ron DeSantis, who drew national attention last year after his administration flew 49 migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts. The measure includes $12 million for similar efforts, steering the money to the state Division of Emergency Management for the “Unauthorized Alien Transport” program.

DeSantis and the Legislature in recent years have passed a series of changes to target illegal immigration, including a 2019 law that banned so-called sanctuary cities. A federal appeals court this month tossed out a constitutional challenge to that law. The governor has made immigration changes one of his top priorities for the legislative session scheduled to end May 5.

The Senate bill (SB 1718) would require businesses with 25 or more workers to use the federal E-Verify system to check the immigration status of employees. Since 2021, such businesses have been required to use E-Verify or what are known as I-9 forms.

The bill also would beef up sanctions against businesses that hire undocumented immigrants, allow state law-enforcement officials to conduct random audits of businesses’ compliance with the law and increase penalties for human smuggling.

“We can no longer turn a blind eye to what’s happening. It is time for us, the state of Florida, to step up and tell the federal government to fix this problem because we are no longer standing for it,” bill sponsor Blaise Ingoglia, R-Spring Hill, said.

The measure would require hospitals to track how much money is spent treating undocumented immigrants in emergency rooms, a requirement that Democrats warned could have disastrous results for sick or injured people who might not seek treatment because they don’t want to disclose their immigration status.

“We have 14- and 15-year-old Haitian American rape victims who will now not go to the hospital,” Sen. Jason Pizzo, a Hollywood Democrat who is a former prosecutor, argued. “You allow the worst of society to continue to do incredible harm and damage and injury because they know that their victims won’t say a word and won’t come forward.”

But Sen. Jonathan Martin, who also is a former prosecutor, said the state needs to find out how much it is spending on health care for people who are in the country illegally.

“We’ve got to find out where a large chunk of the state’s budget is going. A third of our budget is health-care costs. We have to know what percentage of that is being caused directly by the federal government,” Martin, R-Fort Myers, said, referring to federal immigration policies.