Senate stalls bill to penalize ‘sanctuary city’ local officials

Amid tough immigration talk in Florida politics this election year, state senators on Tuesday halted a bid to penalize local officials in so-called “sanctuary cities” who do not fully comply with federal immigration authorities.

The Republican sponsor of the measure, Sen. Aaron Bean, requested his bill be temporarily postponed as it did not “yet meet the concerns” of the 10-member Senate Judiciary Committee — a sign that the measure did not have enough votes.

In order to pass its first of three committee assignments, the bill needs at least six votes from the panel, which has four Democrats and two South Florida Republicans, Sens. Rene Garcia and Anitere Flores, who have a track record of blocking hardline immigration proposals.

The Fernandina Beach Republican said some senators had issues with the severity of penalties for governments that declare themselves sanctuaries from immigration enforcement, according to a News Service of Florida report.

“I’m still negotiating to see what we can do. … The makeup of that committee is a tough committee to get through sometimes,” he said.

Ahead of the committee hearing, opponents of the measure flooded the room, which was at capacity. Those who are against the measure said the measure is “racist” and that it divides members of the community.

“This bill means ensuring criminals are kept off our street,” Bean said, “it does not mean requiring local law enforcement to go on immigration raids.”

Those in favor of it include powerful politicians in Florida, like House Speaker Richard Corcoran who has heavily campaigned on the issue as he stirs speculation about a potential run for governor this year. His chamber passed a ban on “sanctuary cities,” along party lines, on the first week of the 2018 Legislative Session — even though there currently are none in the state.

“With the ramming through of HB 9, a bill that violates two constitutions in multiple ways to profile and detain Floridians who may look like immigrants, this is just the next step in a pattern of extreme political rhetoric meant to rally primary voters via fear and xenophobia,” said state Rep. Evan Jenne, a Dania Beach Democrat.

This is the second year in a row that the House has passed the “sanctuary city” bill, which has in that same time frame gone nowhere in the Senate.

The measures, if passed, would threaten local officials with fines and removal from office if they pass policies to not fully comply with federal immigration authorities. That would include not honoring immigration detainers that hold undocumented immigrants eligible for deportation past their sentences to give federal agents time to pick them up.

The state would likely be sued if the legislation is approved, according to staff analysis, which cites constitutional issues that may violate the first and fourth amendments of the U.S. Constitution.