Jacksonville, Fla. — Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill on Wednesday during a press conference in Jacksonville that is aimed at clamping down on illegal immigration in Florida.
The bill, titled SB 1718, will prohibit county and other municipal governments from providing funds to any person or organization that issues identification documents to people without verifying that the individual is in the state or county legally.
“This is something that is the responsibility of Joe Biden. This is something that he has defaulted on really from day one of his presidency,” DeSantis said Wednesday.
The bill will make bringing an undocumented immigrant into Florida a felony punishable by up to 5 years in prison. There is also a possible fine of $5,000.
In addition, the new law will declare all driver’s licenses from other states issued to those in the country illegally invalid in the state of Florida when it goes into effect on July 1, 2023.
Other provisions of the law include a requirement for hospitals to collect the immigration status of patients, as well as a requirement that employers can be responsible for paying back economic aid money if they employ unauthorized aliens without verifying employment eligibility.
The accompanying analysis of the bill prepared by the staff of the Senate Fiscal Policy Committee did not list any immediate constitutional issues with the bill.
After the bill was signed, several organizations joined in fighting the legislation issued a series of statements against the measure.
“Our hearts break for the Floridians who today are more persecuted,” Florida Immigrant Coalition Executive Director Tessa Petit said. “Their home state is telling them they hate them. Florida is penalizing immigrants for having the sheer bad luck of being born in countries that are in turmoil and having the courage to seek peace and prosperity here. Throughout this legislative session, the majority legislators have sought to use our communities as political scapegoats in their relentless quest to advance Governor DeSantis’ political ambitions.”
Renata Bozzetto, who is the Deputy Director for the Florida Immigrant Coalition, said that the bill had “many problems.”
“It’s negligent that a bill with so many problems and with an incredible potential for harm was signed into law today,” Bozetto said. “There are Floridians who are not immigrants and who have the potential to be incarcerated for traveling with someone who is yet to regulate their immigration status. Our friends and family who are immigrants without legal status will suffer for not going to seek medical care for fear about disclosing their status. Most troublesome, is the fear that this law is already creating, because of its reckless language and rampant disinformation.”