Jacob Ogles
Two lawmakers behind a so-called sanctuary cities ban will travel Florida on a listening tour. But critics say the fact a political committee will foot the bill shows the trip to be about campaigning, not crafting policy.
State Sen. Joe Gruters and state Rep. Cord Byrd, both Republicans, announced specifics about the tour Thursday.
But state Rep. Anna Eskamani, an Orlando Democrat, immediately noticed something about the tour website. A notice at the bottom shows it’s paid for and approved by Florida Conservatives United, Gruters’ political committee.
“This website is paid by a political organization, illustrating once more that this ‘listening tour’ isn’t about good policy; it’s about election politics,” Eskamani wrote on Twitter.
This website is paid by a political organization, illustrating once more that this “listening tour” isn’t about good policy; it’s about election politics. https://t.co/7POmbgGCc2
— Rep. Anna V. Eskamani 🔨 (@AnnaForFlorida) August 1, 2019
Gruters responded by inviting Eskamani to one of the stops. That since prompted a heated online back and forth about immigration policy.
For his part, Gruters says he wanted the political committee to cover expenses lest he is accused of misusing public funds.
“I could have paid for the tour using state funds but I think I would have been attacked by people for using state funds,” he tells Florida Politics.
“I want the focus to be on the tour and on our efforts and not if state dollars should have or have not paid for it so I decided to pay with private funds.”
First, we cracked down on sanctuary cities. Now we’re traveling the state to hear from YOU on what more Tallahassee can do to fix our broken immigration system. Learn more here! https://t.co/jajKSwaKOJ https://t.co/mDiBxs6wzu
— Joe Gruters (@JoeGruters) August 2, 2019
But Eskamani said this just reinforces that Gruters and Byrd aren’t interested in a full debate.
The two lawmakers notably served as the Senate and House sponsors for controversial immigration legislation signed into law in June. That requires local law enforcement to cooperate with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement, including holding individuals with detainer orders for days even if they get picked up on minor offenses.
“The reality is that Sen. Gruters and Rep. Cord Byrd are not neutral facilitators on the issue of immigration,” Eskamani told Florida Politics.
“These events are politically motivated, and knowing that they are politically funded exemplifies that point.”
Notably, Eskamani’s sister Ida Eskamani works as public policy director for the Florida Immigrant Coalition, the chief critics of this year’s immigration bill. Ida Eskamani weighed in online to criticize the tour as well.
“With all due respect Senator, it is way too late to start listening,” she wrote.
First, you ignored 1000+ directly impacted folks & advocates who came to the Capitol begging you to listen to our stories, and asking for a seat at the table.
Then you passed a dangerous law, SB168.
With all due respect Senator, it is way too late to start listening. https://t.co/JwD40yJUEe
— Ida V. Eskamani (@ida_v_e) August 2, 2019
Gruters, also the chair for the Republican Party of Florida, has worked to position himself as a lead crafter of Florida immigration policy. He said the tour will further help with that.
“First, we cracked down on sanctuary cities,” he tweeted. “Now we’re traveling the state to hear from YOU on what more Tallahassee can do to fix our broken immigration system.”
Florida Conservatives United also recently covered the cost of a trip Gruters made to the U.S.-Mexico border. The Senator released a mini-doc (see below) about that trip last month.
Eskamani, though, said that with privately funded events, it’s more likely people with dissenting points of view will be removed from tour stops.
“If we really want to talk about immigration,” she said, “we should have events hosted by a neutral entity that has bipartisan voices, one that is centered around directly impacted people.”
2 comments
Dan
August 2, 2019 at 2:20 pm
Like you said… Critics. Their sole purpose is to criticize everything. The indoctrinated people brought to Tallahassee were paid for by California Socialists wanting to deny and dilute U.S. Citizen rights and the sovereignty of our Nation. Illegal Aliens do not have a right to be here, so their socialist subsidies taken from U.S. tax payers should be denied.
DumpTrump2020
August 2, 2019 at 3:22 pm
Gruters is just a publicity hound within his own tribe and he constantly ingratiates himself to the tribe in hopes they’ll make him their nominee for governor in 2026. He’s strictly a partisan animal always looking to be “important”. A lot like Trump in that regard.
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