Thread: Immigration debate heats up in Palm Bay

Immigration debate heated in Palm Bay

VICtor Manuel Ramos and Kelly Griffith | Sentinel Staff Writers
Posted July 21, 2006

PALM BAY -- Dozens of angry Hispanics jammed a City Council meeting Thursday, vowing to sue the city if it approved a crackdown on employers hiring illegal immigrants.

After hearing the protests, the council tabled the measure, which would have been the first such local law in Florida.

The board agreed to modify the proposed ordinance to impose civil fines, not criminal penalties, on offending businesses. Any ordinance also would have a sunset provision, meaning it would expire in two years unless the City Council adopts the law once again. But the council asked the city attorney to make those changes before any vote is taken.

Many of the Hispanics who spoke against any such ordinance left in disgust.

Next week, Avon Park in Highlands County may vote to go even further as it considers a wide-ranging proposal to penalize any person or business to "aid and abet illegal aliens."

With reform stalled in Congress, local and state governments across the country are adopting their own measures aimed at curtailing the influx of illegal immigrants.

The national trend is worrying civil-rights and Hispanic-advocacy groups who fear it could lead to discrimination against those immigrants as well as legal residents and U.S. citizens."We have seen this all across the country now," said Michele Waslin, director of immigration-policy research for the National Council of La Raza, a Hispanic-advocacy group based in Washington. "It's borne out of frustration because we all know that the immigration system is broken, and rather than working on a national compromise bill this summer, the [U.S. House of Representatives] is holding hearings and delaying the matter further."

Just last week, the Pennsylvania city of Hazleton approved a measure that is quickly becoming a model for municipal elected officials who want to curtail the flow of illegal immigrants to their towns and cities.

The Hazleton law allows hundreds of dollars in fines to employers of illegal immigrants; revokes the business permits of offenders; and makes English the city's official language.

The proposals in Palm Bay, home to about 100,000 residents in south Brevard County, did not go as far as the Hazleton law.

It is unclear how many immigrants work illegally in Palm Bay.

Many residents in the neighboring Indian River County community of Fellsmere are Hispanics of Mexican descent.

And then there is Avon Park, where Mayor Tom Macklin is espousing the Hazleton get-tough approach. As has been the case in other cities, Macklin is reacting to an influx of immigrant workers.

Outside Lucy's Supermarket on Avon Park's Main Street, the block letters on the window tell much of the Central Florida immigration story: Mandamos dinero a Mexico.

"We send money to Mexico."

Inside, owner Maria L. Barrios, 36, keeps 5 a.m.-to-8 p.m. store hours, selling sodas and fresh enchiladas and wiring money to Mexico.

She is convinced that if the city of Avon Park Illegal Immigration Relief Act passes, it would not only destroy her hope of a successful business but also devastate the community of more than 8,500 -- where more than 18 percent are Hispanic; 20 percent speak a language other than English and 21 percent of families live below poverty. A hearing on the ordinance is schedule for Monday.

Macklin's proposal is nothing less than inhumane, Barrios says.

"He doesn't have a clue what it's like to have to wake up early just to have something to eat in the morning," Barrios said as her daughter translated. "The mayor doesn't have a clue what it's like to be on the bottom and have to claw your way up."

The broadly written ordinance, which also declares English the official language of Avon Park, could punish businesses for anything from selling groceries to providing medical care to an illegal immigrant. Specifically, it would punish businesses that "aid and abet" illegal immigrants, including hiring them, by denying approval of business permits for no less than five years. And it would include fining landlords not less than $1,000 for renting or leasing property to illegal immigrants.

Macklin, 47, says denying health care was not his intent. He said he's motivated by frustration and the federal government not acting quickly enough. He said some single-family homes in Avon Park have 15 to 20 people living in them, creating unhealthy environments and driving property values down.

"It's never been my intent to deny services or health care to illegal aliens, to make it illegal to purchase a product or receive health care," Macklin said. ". . . Once we have a public hearing, this thing could look tremendously different. I'm trying to make it hard for illegals to find Avon Park a safe haven."

In Palm Bay, ordinance proponent Andy Anderson, a city councilman, said his proposals did not go as far as penalizing landlords or authorizing local police to inquire on immigration status, because he did not want the city to violate property rights or promote ethnic profiling.

"To me," Anderson said, "this is a colorblind issue about employers using legal or illegal labor."

Immigration, an issue that has been tearing apart Congress, has proved divisive in Palm Bay and Avon Park as well.

In Avon Park, the local chamber of commerce voted unanimously not to support the ordinance. The Orlando-based Florida Civil Rights Association also weighed in, saying that if the Avon Park proposal passes, it will sue based on federal anti-discrimination laws.

Victor Manuel Ramos can be reached at vramos@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-6186. Kelly Griffith can be reached at kgriffith@orlandosentinel.com or 863-422-5908.

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Dozens of angry Hispanics jammed a City Council meeting Thursday, vowing to sue the city if it approved a crackdown on employers hiring illegal immigrants.

Let them have their best shot. This is insane!

The Orlando-based Florida Civil Rights Association also weighed in, saying that if the Avon Park proposal passes, it will sue based on federal anti-discrimination laws.

Please, someone tell me how this even touches on discrimination. What civil rights. This is based on illegality not race. Go to Mexico and demand civil rights and see how fast you wind up in the gray-bar hotel! They need to do this in every town in America and keep them so screwed up suing they will bleed themselves to death. All we need is ONE test case to go our way and America will be back in the hands of the people!