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  1. #1
    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
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    Bill aimed at stopping “sanctuary cities” in Florida passes House committee

    Bill aimed at stopping “sanctuary cities” in Florida passes House committee


    Florida Capitol

    By Maria Perez of the Naples Daily News

    A bill that aims to penalize Florida cities, counties and sheriffs that don't fully cooperate with federal immigration authorities passed its last House committee on Thursday.

    The House Judiciary Committee voted 11-4 along party lines for the bill, sponsored by Rep. Larry Metz.


    The bill would prohibit "sanctuary policies," including policies that limit or prevent a local governmental entity or law enforcement agency from complying with an immigration detainer, initiating an immigration status investigation, or providing a federal immigration agency with the release date of an inmate.


    Metz says he sponsored the bill (HB 675) in response to a 2015 incident in San Francisco in which a woman was fatally shot by a Mexican immigrant. The suspect had been released earlier that year by the San Francisco County sheriff's office, despite a request by federal immigration authorities to detain him.


    But immigrant advocates reject the bill as costly and harming not only for immigrants but also for the communities as a whole.


    Collier County activist Grey Torrico said the immigrant community just wants to live and work in peace and that very few of those who are placed on detainers have committed serious crimes. She said many are usually detained for offenses like driving without a license. Undocumented immigrants cannot apply to have a drivers license in Florida.


    Seven local governments in Florida have adopted policies limiting cooperation with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement by placing conditions on honoring immigration detainers, the Florida House staff analysis says. Detainers are requests from immigration authorities that often ask local law enforcement agencies to inform them about when undocumented immigrants are going to be released, or to hold them for 48 hours so they can take them into custody.


    Six Florida counties decided to not honor detainers unless they are supported by probable cause, such as a warrant from a federal judge, or an order of deportation. Miami-Dade decided that detainers will only be honored if the federal government agrees to reimburse the county for costs due to complying with the detainer and the subject of the detainer has a previous conviction for a forcible felony or has pending charges for a non-bondable offense, according to the staff analysis.


    According to ICE detainer-by-detainer records released to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) at Syracuse University, during April 2015 only about one third of individuals on whom detainers were placed had been convicted of a crime. And only 19 percent had a felony conviction.


    Maria Rodriguez, executive director of Florida Immigrant Coalition, said the bills hurt the communities as a whole because they take productive members who work, pay taxes and consume and put them into jail, often times leaving a family and children who can be U.S. citizens without a breadwinner.


    "We can put them in jail and deport them, and then carry the cost of their children and families, or we can acknowledge that we benefit from their labor and contribution, and understand that having families together benefits all of us," she said.


    Rodriguez said jailing undocumented immigrants originates high costs for local entities and undermines law enforcement.

    Another bill, that would make it a third-degree felony for an undocumented immigrant to come back to the U.S. after having been removed has gotten through two House subcommittees and has yet to be heard at the Judiciary Committee.

    http://www.naplesnews.com/news/bill-...366142041.html

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  2. #2
    Administrator Jean's Avatar
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    House to Vote on Cracking Down on 'Sanctuary Cities'

    By ALLISON NIELSEN
    January 26, 2016 - 6:30pm

    Immigrant groups are on the edges of their seats this week as a bill which could significantly impact their way of life makes its way through the Florida House of Representatives.

    The legislation, HB 675, sponsored by Rep. Larry Metz, R-Yalaha, would punish “sanctuary cities” or counties who aren’t cooperating with federal immigration laws. If the legislation passes, these areas could face civil actions from the attorney general which could be as high as $5,000 per day. Local law enforcement officers would be required to detain illegal immigrants for the federal government, a provision federal courts say violate the 10th amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

    Rep. Metz said the law would simply be a way to enforce local agencies to uphold federal law.

    “This bill would basically say, as a matter of policy in the state of Florida, that we’re not going to tolerate state or local governmental agencies from refusing to cooperate with the enforcement of existing federal immigration law,” he explained.

    Metz, grilled by his fellow lawmakers, said local law enforcement agencies would need to be directed by the feds before they would arrest undocumented immigrants.

    "They're not going to go out looking for people," he told legislators on the House floor Tuesday.

    This week, House legislators will vote on the law. The bill has made its way through House committees on a party-line vote. If the legislation passes, immigrants say it will bring a flurry of difficulties for Florida’s immigrant population. Metz temporarily postponed the legislation Tuesday evening.

    Fear, they say, would be one of the biggest repercussions of passing HB 675.

    “What this means is that our teachers will be forced to report undocumented students or their parents, while local local law enforcement will have to hold immigrants in detention only for being undocumented,” said Francesca Menes, Policy Director of the Florida Immigrant Coalition. “Can you imagine the fear this will generate in the community? Immigrants will be afraid to call to the Police to report a crime and parents will fear taking their kids to school.”

    Rep. Metz points to an incident in San Francisco to drive the point home to pass the legislation. In July 2015, a 32-year old tourist was shot and killed by an illegal immigrant. San Francisco is a “sanctuary city,” commonly welcoming undocumented immigrants to the San Francisco Bay area.

    The incident in California prompted Metz to push the legislation in the Sunshine State.

    A report published Tuesday by the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida says at least 30 counties in Florida have policies in place to safeguard against detention requests from Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the federal agency responsible for detaining undocumented immigrants.


    “Since trust and cooperation from the community is so important in protecting public safety, these localities have enacted policies to foster this trust and prioritize their resources on local public safety needs – not enforcing unfunded and unconstitutional federal requests,” said ACLU of Florida staff attorney Shalini Goel Agarwal, the lead author of the report.


    The House is scheduled to vote on HB 675 on Wednesday.

    http://www.sunshinestatenews.com/sto...nctuary-cities
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  3. #3
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    ACTIVISTS WANT BOB BUCKHORN TO OPPOSE IMMIGRATION BILL PROPOSED IN TALLAHASSEE

    January 27, 2016 By Mitch Perry

    Immigration activists concerned about state legislation that they believe targets them held events throughout Florida on Wednesday, including in Tampa.

    There are several bills that the groups, going under the name “We Are Florida” are criticizing that are percolating in Tallahassee this current session — none more so than a measure (HB 675) sponsored by Yamaha Republican Larry Metz that could penalize cities, counties and sheriffs in Florida who don’t fully cooperate with federal immigration authorities.

    “It’s going to create fear,” said Nancy Palacios, an organizer with the group Faith in Florida. “It’s going to create a lack of collaboration between the police force and the community, where people won’t want to report any kind of criminal activity or any kind of crimes because they would be scared to be asked their status.”

    Palacios added that it was going to create fear in parents “who want to send their kids to school because they’ll fear that their kids might be reported over to immigration because they’re undocumented.”

    Palacios was joined by several other activists who spoke to reporters outside of Tampa’s City Hall. They called on Mayor Bob Buckhorn to pass an ordinance that would preclude Tampa from participating with the state on such a law.

    That would make Tampa a so-called “Sanctuary City,” of which there are hundreds around the country which have policies, laws, executive orders, or regulations allowing them to avoid cooperating with federal immigration law enforcement authorities.

    The issue became toxic after the tragic death of a San Francisco woman last summer by an undocumented immigrant who had been recently released by the local sheriff.

    The ACLU of Florida has released a report identifying some 30 counties in Florida that currently have policies declining to respond to Immigration and Customers Enforcement (ICE) detainer requests, or to honor them only in limited circumstances, such as when they are accompanied by a judicial warrant. They include Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco and Sarasota Counties.

    “Proponents of this legislation want to believe that choosing not to face the legal liability and costs that come with ICE detainers is something only done in liberal enclaves — it’s not,” says ACLU of Florida Director of Public Policy Michelle Richardson. “Our report shows that law enforcement and elected leaders from every part of our state are making the smart decision to respect the Constitution, and to spare their taxpayers the legal liability of these unconstitutional holds. Members preparing to vote on HB 675 should look very closely at this list and consult with the sheriffs in their counties to find out what would happen back home before making a politically-based decision in Tallahassee.”

    Metz’ bill was supposed to come before the entire House for a vote on Wednesday, but was postponed.

    “If HB 675 becomes law, these counties will be damned if they do, damned if they don’t,” added Richardson. “Faced with the legal liabilities of unconstitutionally detaining someone on one hand, and the penalties piled on by this bill on the other, every police stop or jailhouse booking becomes a minefield for Florida police.”

    Mayor Buckhorn’s office has not responded to Florida Politics request for comment.

    http://floridapolitics.com/archives/...in-tallahassee
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  4. #4
    MW
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    Maybe this bill has a chance now that Rubio is no longer the House Speaker in Florida.

    "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing" ** Edmund Burke**

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