Vol. 75/No. 4      January 31, 2011

The law Snyder has drafted is modeled on Arizona law SB 1070, which was adopted last year. Snyder’s law would require state and local police to check the immigration status of someone during a “lawful stop” if they have “reasonable suspicion” that person is undocumented. It would increase penalties in criminal cases for defendants who are undocumented. The measure would also require all employers in the state to use the E-Verify system to check the immigration status of job applicants, prohibit undocumented workers from seeking day labor, and penalize those who employ them.

“There’s already racial profiling” by police, said one of the first speakers to condemn the anti-immigrant law at the meeting. She described how her husband, who is Latino, was detained by police because he appeared “suspicious.” Several participants gave other examples of police harassment, and said that the proposed law would not be carried out in a “race neutral” way.

“The biggest problems we face are the economy, domestic violence, and home foreclosures,” said Angelica Perez. “How is this bill going to help?” Among those who spoke out were Gaby Pacheco and Felipe Matos, undocumented students who took part in a 1,500-mile walk from Miami to Washington, D.C., last year to support the “Dream Act.” That law, which was recently defeated in the U.S. Senate, would have made it possible for some undocumented young people who are in college or enlist in the armed forces to apply for legal residence papers.

Among those who supported Snyder’s bill was Carol Caso, who declared, “My property value is ruined” by Latino immigrants moving into the neighborhood. She complained about day laborers who wait for work at the local gas station, and about “roosters at 5:00 a.m.”

Jack Oliver, with Floridians for Immigration Enforcement, argued that the proposed bill isn’t racist. “The law is broken every day an illegal goes to work,” he said. More deportations would mean “more jobs for Floridians.”

“Just because something is the law doesn’t make it right,” Ana Rodriguez responded. “The people being deported are mostly hard workers, not criminals.” She added that “border enforcement is killing people in Arizona.”

On January 10 State Senator Mike Bennett, who has introduced a similar bill, acknowledged the political pressure against the sections that would require local police to enforce immigration law. “There probably will not be an Arizona-immigration style bill that passes the Florida Senate,” he told reporters. “I might not even vote for it myself.” At the same time he is advocating the expanded use of E-Verify to make it harder for undocumented workers to get jobs. Newly elected governor Richard Scott signed an executive order right after his inauguration requiring agencies under his control to use the federal system.

Immigrant rights activists from throughout southern and central Florida held a press conference before the Palm City forum in front of a banner reading, “No human being is illegal.”  
 
 
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