Immigrant advocates have fears about smuggling bill
Awaiting Crist's signature, measure OKs local arrests
By JANINE ZEITLIN • jzeitlin@news-press.com • May 2, 2009

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A human smuggling bill that would allow local and state law enforcers to arrest suspects has been unanimously passed by lawmakers.



There is no date set for the signing of the bill on its way to the governor, said state house spokesman Sterling Ivey.

But not all immigrant advocates are happy to see it propel forward.

Some worry it could lead to racial profiling and say it's repetitive because federal officials already wield arrest power.

"We didn't think it was needed because there are federal laws about human smuggling," said Barbara Mainster, executive director of Immokalee-based Redlands Christian Migrant Association.

Lee County Sheriff Mike Scott said the bill would offer extra help but his office is not just ignoring suspected smugglers, most of whom bring people here illegally from Mexico, Cuba and Guatemala.

"Without the bill, we contact federal authorities and get them involved, so it is not like we simply send the smugglers on their way if/when we encounter them," he said, in a statement. "Passage of the bill would obviously be an extra tool in the local toolbox."

Mainster said her agency worked with the Florida Catholic Conference to adjust bill wording so as not to punish advocates who shuttle undocumented immigrants to appointments.

Wording was added from the original to the final version of the legislation to clarify that smuggling would entail transporting an individual who "the person knows, or should know, is illegally entering the United States from another country."

In addition, punishment was downgraded from a felony to a misdemeanor.

Sheila Hopkins, an associate director at the Florida Catholic Conference, said a felony conviction could preclude an undocumented worker who is not a smuggler but transporting family or a friend from becoming legal. Her organization sent out alerts to call lawmakers to change it.

"We are pleased with the compromise," she said.

She still questions whether the measure could lead to racial profiling.

"There's some real concerns about how this is going to play out," she said. "There are people who are going to be transporting people for humanitarian purposes or it may be a family member."

Those working in the human trafficking arena welcomed the measure.

Christine Nolan, a local director for Catholic Charities, which received a grant to help law enforcers root out victims, said slavery cases typically start as smuggling.

Southwest Florida has been a smugglers' destination, attracting boats from Cuba or vehicles heading to Immokalee or Lee County with workers.

"Who's going to sign up to be trafficked?" Nolan said. "They sign up to be smuggled and end up trafficked and become a slave."

Nola Theiss, coordinator of the Lee County Human Trafficking Task Force, said the legislation would help cover any time gaps between local contact with suspects and federal response.

"A law that enables local law enforcers to hold a person while they're contacting federal agencies is a good thing," she said.

Mary Lewis, co-chair of the task force, doesn't anticipate the bill would spur huge change in Lee as agencies are coordinated and Doug Molloy, chief assistant U.S. attorney in Fort Myers, is accessible to local advocates and law enforcers.

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