Senate President Ben Albritton, left, Speaker Daniel Perez, left, and Gov. Ron DeSantis, center. (Photos by Jay Waagmeester/Florida Phoenix)
While Florida lawmakers and Gov. Ron DeSantis are in a standoff over illegal-immigration legislation, there’s one part of the measure that has received little discussion but deeply worries social service and immigration advocates.
Buried in the measures moving through the House and Senate is a provision that makes it a “duty and obligation” for public or private agencies, persons, partnerships, corporations, or businesses holding contracts with the state or that act on behalf of any public agency to “cooperate to the fullest extent possible with the Federal Government in the enforcement of federal immigration laws and the protection of the borders of the United States.”
Pinellas Democratic Rep. Lindsay Cross suggested the language “seems quite broad,” although House bill sponsor Lawrence McClure defended it, saying, “Everyone who does business in the private sector with the state government has a duty to cooperate.”
Worth noting: There is no penalty for businesses that don’t comply with the mandate.
The House and Senate were still debating the legislation as of this posting.
Bucking the governor
Gov. Ron DeSantis called the Legislature into special session this week to address immigration and a spate of other issues he said need attention before lawmakers meet in the regularly scheduled 60-day legislative session that begins in March.
The House and Senate convened, as they are constitutionally required to do, and took the opportunity to override DeSantis’ veto of roughly $57 million for legislative operations.
Both chambers adjourned and agreed to reconvene is a second special session, this one called by the Legislature, and introduced identical pieces of legislation, HB 1B and SB 2B. Among other things, the bills designate Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson as the state’s chief immigration officer and eliminate millions of dollars the Legislature has given the governor’s office over the past two years for immigration enforcement.
DeSantis has vociferously opposed the bills, posting on social media and appearing on the Sean Hannity show accusing the Legislature of participating in “swampy politics.”
While disagreements have emerged between the Legislature and DeSantis in the past over policy, this level of discord hasn’t been seen since the governor took office. Lobbyists who fear aggravating either the Legislature of the governor have remained low key. For example, the state’s largest hospital lobby, the Florida Hospital Association, had not responded to Florida Phoenix’s request for comment as of this posting.
Trump’s executive orders
The House and Senate bills come on the heels on executive orders issued by the Trump administration that he says removed restrictions that prevented Immigration and Customs Enforcement from raiding locations such as schools, houses of worship, and hospitals.
The mandate on public and private businesses that contract with the state is one of many that concerns Karen Woodall, executive director of the Florida Center for Fiscal & Economic Policy, has with the legislation.
“There’s basically no safe space,” Woodall said — the broad language will affect hospitals, domestic violence centers, and schools, among other entities.
The Legislature in 2023 passed an immigration bill (SB 1718) that requires any hospital that accepts Medicaid to inquire about whether the patient is a U.S. citizen, is lawfully present in the United States, or is not lawfully present in the United States.
Although people aren’t mandated to answer the questions, hospitals are legally required to ask and submit quarterly submit reports to the state Agency for Health Care Administration, which is charged with regulating health care facilities such as hospitals and nursing homes.
A 2024 report issued by AHCA shows that of the 1,720,554 total hospital admissions between June 1 and Dec. 31, 2023, 4,022 (0.81%) admitted patients reported not being legal residents.
Another 132,972 (7.73%) refused to answer the question.
Data were similar for emergency room visits. Of the 4,787,629 patients there, 39,758 (0.83%) reported not legally residing in the country and another 349,199 (7.29%) refused to answer the question.
AHCA notes in the report that of those who refused to answer the question, “Some portion of those responses contain respondents who were in the country illegally.”
SB 1718 put the burden on facilities to ask the question but didn’t make it a duty for hospitals to work with the federal government to enforce immigration laws. The new legislation would impose that burden.
Woodall worries that the new duty for hospitals to enforce immigration laws may deter some folks from seeking emergency care.
Meanwhile, according to the Department of Children and Families, Florida has 41 certified domestic violence centers that offer temporary emergency shelter, advocacy, and crisis intervention, resources necessary to be safe and live free of violence.
Communities living in fear make all of us unsafe.
– Karen Woodhall, Florida Center for Fiscal & Economic Policy
ICE at school
While Trump’s immigration orders allow ICE officers to enter schools, Woodall worries that under the state legislation schools could contact ICE officers who could wait for parents as they pick their children up from bus stops or walk them home from school.
She concedes the bill sponsors insist that isn’t the goal, but saidthere’s nothing in the measure that prevents that from occurring.
“If they don’t intend for that to happen, then they need to put language in there that says that,” Woodall said.
Meanwhile, Broward Democratic Rep. Robin Bartleman questioned during debate on the bill if teachers and social workers would have to report an undocumented kindergartener to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Meanwhile Woodall also also worries that the provision could affect the poor elderly, some of whom rely on programs such as Meals on Wheels.
“Frankly, we are all at risk with this. When we create anything that makes anybody unsafe in our communities — and I’m not talking about the rapist and the people who have committed crimes that they say this is about that they already have the ability to go after, I’m talking about the communities. Communities living in fear make all of us unsafe.”
This story was updated to include House debate on the measure.
Jackie Llanos contributed to this story
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