Latino Advocacy Group Issues Travel Advisory For Florida

FLORIDA — The League of United Latin American Citizens has issued a travel alert warning immigrants to stay clear of Florida following the passage of Senate Bill 1718 by Gov. Ron DeSantis on May 10.

Additionally, LULAC leaders said they are considering legal action in federal court against the state of Florida following the signing of the new law, which goes into effect July 1.

The new law mandates that hospitals and health clinics check the legal status of patients before treating them and prevents the hiring of undocumented immigrants by Florida businesses.

"Only once before in its 94-year history has LULAC issued this level of travel-related alert," said LULAC spokesman David Cruz.

The first time was in 2010 following the signing of Senate Bill 1070 by Arizona Gov. Jan. Brewer.

"LULAC is focusing on immigration as one of its top priority issues, coinciding with lifting enforcement on Title 42 and coordinating its member councils nationally," Cruz said. "LULAC will not silently tolerate acts of fearmongering, scapegoating and immoral policies hurting Latinos and that divide Americans for political gain.

He said LULAC is also calling for industry leaders impacted by Florida's sweeping immigration mandate to join with LULAC in a coalition against implementing Bill 1718.

LULAC President Domingo Garcia will address other actions the organization is taking during a news conference Wednesday at noon live on Zoom.

Related: DeSantis To Deploy 1,100 Personnel To Aid Immigration Influx In Texas

DeSantis said Senate Bill 1718 is designed to combat the dangerous effects of illegal immigration "caused by the federal government’s reckless border policies."

This legislation makes using E-Verify mandatory for any employer with 25 or more employees, imposes enforceable penalties for those employing undocumented immigrants and enhances penalties for human smuggling.

Additionally, the bill prohibits local governments from issuing identification cards to undocumented immigrants, invalidates ID cards issued to undocumented immigrants in other states and requires hospitals to collect and submit data on the costs of providing health care to undocumented immigrants.

“The Biden Border Crisis has wreaked havoc across the United States and has put Americans in danger,” said DeSantis. “In Florida, we will not stand idly by while the federal government abandons its lawful duties to protect our country. The legislation I signed gives Florida the most ambitious anti-illegal immigration laws in the country, fighting back against reckless federal government policies and ensuring the Florida taxpayers are not footing the bill for illegal immigration.”

“Our southern border has been dealing with a man-made crisis under the ineptness of President Biden, allowing more than 6.3 million illegal immigrants to flood our border,” said Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, R-Spring Hill, sponsor of the bill. “Florida made history signing into law the strongest state-led anti-illegal immigration bill ever brought forth."

This legislation will require private employers with 25 or more employees to use the E-Verify system for new employees beginning on July 1. This bill also expands penalties for employers who fail to comply with E-Verify requirements, including the possible suspension and revocation of employer licenses and the imposition of specific penalties on employers that knowingly employ undocumented immigrants.

Additionally, this legislation creates a third-degree felony for an undocumented immigrant to knowingly use a false ID to gain employment and prohibits a county or municipality from providing funds to any person or organization to issue IDs or other documents to an undocumented immigrant.

Most importantly, said DeSantis, undocumented immigrants will no longer be permitted to rely on out-of-state driver licenses. If another state issues a license to an undocumented immigrant who was unable to prove lawful status in the U.S. when his or her license was issued, that person is prohibited from operating a motor vehicle in Florida.

Senate Bill 1718 also enhances the crime of human smuggling when smuggling a minor, when smuggling more than five people and when the defendant has a prior conviction for human smuggling.

And the bill adds the crime of human smuggling to the list of crimes allowed for prosecution under the Florida Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) Act.

The legislation will additionally require each hospital that accepts Medicaid to include a question on admission or registration forms that asks whether the patient is a U.S. citizen or lawfully in the U.S.

Hospitals will be required to provide a quarterly report to the Agency for Health Care Administration detailing the number of patients that visited the emergency department or were admitted to the hospital in each category of the citizen status question on the admission or registration forms.