Led by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, Florida's state legislature is considering immigration measures to crack down on undocumented migrants that reportedly are the toughest in any state in more than a decade.
The bills are part of what DeSantis describes as a response to President Joe Biden's "open borders agenda" that have let an uncontrolled flow of migrants cross into the United States from Mexico, the New York Times reported.
According to the Times, the Florida bills would expose people to felony charges for sheltering, hiring and transporting undocumented immigrants; require hospitals to ask patients their immigration status and report to the state; invalidate out-of-state driver's licenses issued to undocumented immigrants; and direct the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to provide assistance to federal authorities in enforcing the nation's immigration laws.
Separately, DeSantis has proposed the elimination of in-state college tuition for undocumented students and beneficiaries of the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA. The tuition law first enacted in 2014 by Gov. Rick Scott, who now serves as a U.S. Senator.
"We need to do everything in our power to protect the people of Florida from what's going on at the border and the border crisis," DeSantis said Feb. 23.
According to the Times, under the proposed new Florida bills, a person could be charged with a third-degree felony for knowingly transporting, concealing, or harboring undocumented immigrants, punishable by up to five years in prison.
While sponsors have said the legislation is not intended to target ordinary Floridians in their day-to-day lives, its potential applications are broad, according to the Times.
"As the bill is written, there are no exceptions," Paul Chavez, a lawyer affiliated with the Southern Poverty Law Center, which is preparing to challenge the legislation in court if it passes, told the Times.
The Times reported that more than one in five Florida residents are immigrants, an estimated 800,000 are undocumented, and 722,000 American citizens in the state live in households with one or more undocumented immigrants.
"What might make DeSantis look good with the extreme right in a national presidential election bid is just about the most destructive and hurtful thing he could do to his own state," Mike Fernandez, who runs a private equity group and is a member of the American Business Immigration Coalition, told the Times.
The Florida legislation, introduced on the first day of the session that ends in May, is expected to be fast-tracked by Republicans.
"I wholeheartedly thank and commend Gov. Ron DeSantis for having the courage to lead on this issue," Blaise Ingoglia, the state senator who sponsored the bill, told the Times. "This problem is now at our doorstep, and Florida will not stand for it anymore."
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