Thread: activists: we'll sue if Fla passes Ariz-style law

Posted on Thursday, 04.21.11

activists: we'll sue if Fla passes Ariz-style law

By LAURA WIDES-MUNOZ
AP Hispanic Affairs Writer

MIAMI -- The Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center along with the American Civil Liberties Union plan sue the state immediately if the Legislature passes either of two pending immigration bills in the House and the Senate, the nonprofit said Thursday.

Immigrant advocates say components of the House bill closely resemble the very ones in Arizona's new immigration law that a federal appeals court recently upheld were unconstitutional.

Florida's House bill would authorize local law enforcement to check out the immigration status of anyone under investigation, even if the individual had never been arrested. And it would allow local officers to check the immigration status whenever they suspected someone is in the country illegally. The House bill also requires employers to use the federal government's E-Verify work authorization program.

"Some of our legislators are trying to push forward bills that would have devastating effects on the state," said executive director Cheryl Little during a news conference with community leaders and the ACLU. She said it will make immigrants already fearful of law enforcement more afraid of cooperating with local officials.

"If one of these bills becomes law, FIAC is ready to sue," she added.

The Senate bill is more limited, but it still requires local law enforcement check the immigration status of inmates, encouraging them to go beyond simply using federal criminal and immigration databases. The Senate bill would also allow businesses to let employees use a driver's license as proof they are authorized to work, instead of the E-Verify program.

Supporters of stronger immigration enforcement say the Senate version of the bill is worthless because driver licenses from other states are too easy to forge and won't prove work eligibility.

The Advocacy Center's attorneys said they were dumbfounded that Florida Rep. William Snyder, R-Stuart, would propose a bill that includes provisions so close to the Arizona measures that have been blocked.

Attorney Tania Galloni added that the Florida House provision for allowing state criminal judges to decide whether individuals are in the country illegally for sentencing purposes directly usurps federal immigration judges' authority and would also likely be held unconstitutional.

Manny Fernandez, a Miami-based attorney and member of the group Somos Republicanos, which fought the legislation in Arizona, described the House bill as a thinly veiled effort to energize a core group of voters whom he said do not represent the majority of the state - nor even the state's Republican Party.

Several organizations including the SEIU began running ads this week on Spanish-language radio attacking South Florida's State Sen. Anitere Flores, who has shepherded the bill through the Senate, and House Majority Leader Carlos Lopez-Cantera, who has opposed the legislation but has done little publicly to sway his colleagues. Neither those officials, nor Snyder, returned calls from The Associated Press Thursday seeking comment.

Little did not focus on the E-Verify aspect of the legislation. But for some supporters of the bills, that is key.

Joyce Tarnow of the Floridians for a Sustainable Population was deeply disappointed with the Senate version of the bill, not because its enforcement provisions are watered down but because it doesn't make E-verify mandatory.

She noted the latest review of the program by the U.S. Congress found it was accurate nearly 98 percent of the time.

"E-verify is free, easy to use, highly accurate," she said, adding, "The agricultural industry and hotel industries just don't want to lose their access to cheap labor. It's the simplest, clearest way to have people self-deport."

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/04/21/2 ... bills.html

its time that Americans stood up and started suing groups like this for aiding and abetting, and anything else we can think of

Go ahead and use up all your $$$ suing, you will run out eventually, as more states pass these just and fair laws demanding our government fulfill it's promise from 25 years ago - ENFORCING THE DAMN LAWS!!!

I have read this and commented on it already. They can complain all they want. What I find interesting is that many Hispanics are against illegal immigration especially if they immigrated here legally. It doesn't surprise me that businesses are for illegals. They should find out who they are and have ICE check out the employees.

Let them run up a bill in court. If the laws are legal and other states have similar laws passed then it is unlikely the activists will do anything but use up air

Activists vow court fight against anti-immigrant legislation

Activists fighting to defeat two anti-immigrant bills in the Florida Legislature are prepared to go to court to overturn potential legislation.

By ALFONSO CHARDY
achardy@ElNuevoHerald.com

Immigrant rights activists plan to sue the state if the Florida Legislature passes legislation that would impose state controls on undocumented immigrants, including one that would make it a misdemeanor crime to be illegally in Florida.

With the Legislature ending its 60-day session early next month, the activists denounced two proposed bills during a small demonstration in front of the Miami office of Florida Rep. Carlos López-Cantera and at a news conference at the Biscayne Boulevard offices of Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center (FIAC).

Cheryl Little, the FIAC executive director, said her organization along with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), are “readyâ€

This is a tested-and-proven tactic of illegal alien activist organizations. Most of the time, the S.L.A.P.P. (strategic lawsuit against public participation) threat is hurled at small towns, small school districts, small law enforcement offices and individuals. And most of the time, the mere threat of a lawsuit intimidates these small organizations into surrendering their rights before asserting their rights. Examples are Fremont, Nebraska and Escondido, California. Now that the states have been driven to near bankruptcy by irresponsible administrators, S.L.A.P.P. threats occasionally work at these much higher levels. Because lawsuits generally are filed as civil rights violations, taxpayers pick up both sides of the tab -- win or lose. Part of the solution is to make litigants pay even if they win -- even in cases that allege civil rights violations. BTW, organizations becoming wealthy by engaging in this activity include ACFLU, SPLC, LULAC, MALDEF, PRLDEF, La Raza, MEChA, Mexica, Mexico and many more.

go on sue .... i still instruct my law makers to pass the super harsh anti illegal immgration laws ....

in a demoracy the lawmakers do what the voters want , not the lawyers ...