Bloomberg Línea — “Instilling fear, promoting racial discrimination and harming Florida’s economy, instead of supporting the state’s Hispanic population,” are some of the accusations that Democratic lawmakers are leveling against the policies of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
DeSantis’ stance is not novel, but if you put his proposed Florida immigration bill, SB 1718, under a magnifying glass, the bill bears the hallmarks of several state immigration laws adopted by GOP-led state legislatures across the country over the past three decades, according to The Hill.
What does the DeSantis bill propose?
Some of the most significant points DeSantis proposes in his bid to tighten immigration policies:
- Prohibit counties and municipalities from providing funds to any person, entity or organization to issue identification documents to a person who does not provide proof of lawful presence in the United States
- Seeks to specify that certain driver’s licenses and permits issued by other states exclusively to unauthorized immigrants are not valid in Florida
- Certain hospitals should be required to collect information on the immigration status of patients on admission or registration forms
- The maximum fine that may be imposed for a first violation of specific provisions relating to the employment, hiring, recruitment, or referral of aliens for public or private employment will be increased
- Criminal penalties will be imposed on those who transport undocumented persons or live with them, while knowing that they have an irregular status
The bill is poised to become law on July 1.
“Religious leaders, civil rights groups, chambers of commerce and others have spoken out against these draconian measures because they will slow economic growth, shrink our workforce, hurt small businesses, increase inflation and deeply harm our international tourism,” said Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chair Nanette Barragan (D-California) and Vice Chair Darren Soto (D-Florida).