Florida Senate Committee Hears Immigration Bill; Vote Not Taken

SB 168 was heard Monday, February 11 in the Senate Judiciary Committee, the first of three committee stops. Under the proposed bill, police would be required to honor all requests made by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to hold individuals beyond the time they would otherwise be released from a law enforcement agency. Courts have found that state and local governments do not have the authority to enforce immigration laws.
 
Notwithstanding that the courts will likely invalidate such a law if passed, FCCB outlined in a letter to Senator Gruters, the bill sponsor, its concerns with the proposal:

• Local jurisdictions are already in compliance with federal law in this regard.
• Erroneous detainers are issued with some frequency against non-deportable lawful immigrants and U.S. citizens.
• This is a highly costly and unfunded expansion of a federal program thrust upon local law enforcement and local governments.
• The bill makes local jurisdictions vulnerable to significantly increased liability.
• The bill likely diminishes public safety, rather than enhances it.

Rather than SB 168, comprehensive federal immigration reform is needed to address our immigration challenges.

Monday's hearing came to an end before a vote on the bill. The committee is expected to vote on SB 168 during its next meeting on February 19. If your state senator is a member of the Judiciary Committee, please send a message urging him or her to vote "no" on SB 168.

(Members of the Judiciary Committee are: Sen. David Simmons, District 9; Sen. Jose Javier Rodriquez, District 37; Sen. Dennis Baxley, District 12; Sen. Audrey Gibson, District 6; Sen. Travis Hutson, District 7; and Sen. Kelli Stargel, District 22.)