House votes to ban IDs for undocumented immigrants

Image via AP.

The House isn’t saying “papers, please” to immigrants, but a newly passed bill puts restrictions on acceptable forms of identification for people not born in this country.

Largely along party lines, legislators passed by an 81-32 vote HB 1451, a Rep. Kiyan Michael and Berny Jacques measure that bans “counties & municipalities, respectively, from accepting certain ID cards or documents that are knowingly issued to individuals who are not lawfully present in United States as form of identification.”

Various South Florida jurisdictions have accepted such identification in recent years, though those initiatives stopped being funded last Summer.

Ahead of the vote, Democrats attempted to knock down the legislation in structured debate, to no avail as usual.

Rep. Anna Eskamani attested to the importance of “community IDs” elsewhere in the country, noting that people like Orange County Sheriff John Mina have spoken about the value of using these to connect undocumented immigrants with social services. She noted that these documents don’t allow people to vote or drive legally.

Rep. Johanna López decried the measure as posing “serious threats to public safety,” keeping undocumented immigrants “segregated.” She lamented that law enforcement did not help to develop this bill.

Rep. Angie Nixon noted that America itself is “stolen land” and the beneficiaries are “descendants of illegal immigrants.”

One Democrat and various Republicans stood up for the bill.

Rep. Kim Daniels — who, like Reps. Nixon and Michael, is from Jacksonville — noted that she’s been married for three years to a Nigerian who got his visa this week, and suggested her “position” is why it has taken longer.

“I’m going to vote up on this bill,” Daniels said. “Just because you vote up on this bill, doesn’t mean it’s hatred. Everybody ain’t hating. You don’t know what people are going through.”

Daniels suggested that opponents of the bill were trying to give “free rides” to undocumented immigrants, and said she’s “tired of being quiet.”

Rep. Jeff Holcomb said “anyone can get a community ID,” arguing that America is no longer a “sovereign country” because of the “open border,” and charging opponents of the bill with “playing politics” with community IDs to “increase population in certain parts of this country” to drive Democratic votes.

“They want a popular vote. You’re going to win a popular vote election when you allow new people to vote,” he said.

Rep. Jacques cited the “invasion” at the “open (Joe) Biden borders” and the need to “stop the scourge of illegal immigration,” noting that previous legislation and the Governor sending state forces to the Mexican border as emblematic of the state’s commitment.

“This bill was passed last year,” said Michael, who added that she was “just getting started” with legislation to crack down on illegal immigration. Her personal stake in this issue is well known; she had a son killed by an undocumented immigrant when George W. Bush was President.

The Senate version of this bill is on track to pass, as it’s on the Special Order Calendar.

It’s unlikely that Gov. Ron DeSantis will veto this, meanwhile, and it is likely he will sign this at a press conference in Jacksonville, where he has brought his anti-illegal immigration events many times in the past.