Thread: FL:Illegal aliens in prison could be deported under Senate b

Illegal immigrants in prison could be deported under Senate bill
Josh Hafenbrack and Elizabeth Baier | South Florida Sun-sentinel
April 2, 2008

TALLAHASSEE - A Legislature reluctant to tackle immigration policy in an election year made its first foray into the issue Tuesday with a proposal to deport illegal immigrants in Florida's prisons on a voluntary basis.

Even that measure, approved on a bipartisan vote in its first Senate committee stop, is billed by supporters more as a cost-saving measure than a bid to crack down on illegal immigrants.

With the Legislature's annual lawmaking session halfway over, the hot-button issue of illegal immigration has largely been absent from the agenda. Bills to deny illegal immigrants state benefits such as food stamps and to require companies to verify the legal status of employees have been idled as legislators have dealt with a $3 billion budget shortfall.

"I don't know who is blocking it, but they're doing the public a disservice," said Rep. Don Brown, R-DeFuniak Springs, who is sponsoring one of the toughest bills targeting illegal immigrants. His bill would, among other things, prohibit "sanctuary cities" where police are barred from enforcing immigration laws.




Meanwhile, states across the country are moving to beef up laws dealing with issues stemming from the estimated 12 million people in the United States illegally. A spike in activity on the immigration front swept through state capitals after talks in Congress to overhaul the nation's immigration laws broke down last year.

The Senate bill (SB 1086), which cleared the Criminal Justice Committee by unanimous vote Tuesday, would allow deportation of the estimated 5,000 illegal immigrants in Florida prisons, as long as they have served half of their sentences and agree to be deported.

Similar laws in New York and Arizona saved the states $141 million and $13 million in inmate costs in 2005 and 2007, respectively.

But even this bill, sponsored by Sen. Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton, has yet to get a hearing in the House. That chamber has scheduled a workshop on immigration policy next week -- a sign, to Brown, that immigration bills have a dim chance of passage during the session that ends May 2.

"My reaction was, why are you going to waste my time?" he said of the workshop, which means the issue will be discussed but won't get a vote.

Still, some legislative leaders including House Majority Leader Adam Hasner, R-Boca Raton, say there is still time to address immigration policy, especially since the Senate took the first step Tuesday.

Some say Florida should do nothing. Courtney Strickland, a lobbyist with the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, said, "It's not a great idea to have a patchwork of laws and policies across the states."

But many other states have stepped in to fill what they perceive as a vacuum caused by federal inaction. In 2007, state legislatures adopted 240 bills related to immigration, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.




The South Florida Sun-Sentinel is a Tribune Publishing newspaper.
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They cannot even come together to pass legislation that would deport criminal illegal invaders.

That's a disgrace!