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U.S. judge asked to block FL’s ban on transporting immigrants with unsettled status [1]

['Michael Moline', 'More From Author', '- August']

Date: 2023-08-08  

Immigrant-rights advocates have asked a federal judge to block a state law criminalizing anyone who transports anyone with unsettled immigration status within Florida.

The provision “is illegal under binding precedent and imposes a staggering hardship on Plaintiffs, other Floridians, and travelers to Florida, who now face criminal penalties for visiting their families, doing their jobs, seeking medical care, and engaging in other everyday activities,” attorneys for the groups wrote in a memorandum filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Additionally, those attorneys argued that that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, which holds jurisdiction over Florida, more than a decade ago invalidated similar laws in Alabama and Georgia, where that court’s rulings also control, as infringements on the federal government’s power over immigration policy.

The provision “is also preempted because it prevents immigrants from entering Florida, and because it creates a new immigration classification that does not exist in federal law. Clear precedent establishes that both are impermissible,” the attorneys continue.

“The statute is also unconstitutionally vague, because it provides no clarity or notice as to which passengers will expose drivers to harsh criminal penalties. It could even criminalize driving U.S. citizens, lawful residents, and others with federal permission to be in the country.”

The Southern Poverty Law Center, American Civil Liberties Union, Americans for Immigrant Justice, and American Immigration Council filed the motion pursuant to a lawsuit they filed on July 12 challenging SB 1718.

That law, pushed by Gov. Ron DeSantis this year, imposes criminal penalties on a person who transports an immigrant who “entered the United States in violation of law and has not been inspected by the Federal Government since his or her unlawful entry.”

Quick ruling sought

Plaintiffs in the lawsuit include immigrants of uncertain status, and groups and individuals committed to helping them regularize their status, including the Farmworker Association of Florida. The action names as defendants DeSantis, Attorney General Ashley Moody, Florida Statewide Prosecutor Nicholas B. Cox, and state attorney general offices in Florida’s 20 judicial circuits.

“Undersigned counsel requests that the Court set this motion for a hearing as soon as possible in light of the imminent harm Plaintiffs face,” the motion says.

“This law’s stated purpose is to instill fear in some of the most vulnerable groups in our country, Nezahualcoyotl Xiuhtecutli, general coordinator for the Farmworker Association, said in a written statement.

“It creates unnecessary hardship for workers with few protections and for many forced to travel seasonally to earn a living. Instead of rewarding them for the back-breaking labor that puts food on America’s tables and doing jobs nobody wants, we impose brutal hardships. This attempt to curtail the free movement of people is the kind of oppression we would expect from authoritarian regimes,” he added.

In addition, the new law requires businesses with 25 or more employees to use E-Verify system for new employees and hospitals to question whether patients are U.S. citizens, and bans undocumented immigrants from driving cars in Florida even if they have a driver’s license from another state.

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[1] Url: https://floridaphoenix.com/2023/08/08/u-s-judge-asked-to-block-of-fls-ban-on-transporting-immigrants-with-unsettled-status/

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