Advocacy groups sue Florida officials over latest immigration law

A coalition of advocacy groups sued an array of Florida officials Monday, claiming that the state’s new prohibitions on transporting undocumented immigrants “could sweep in all manner of immigrants.”

The lawsuit specifically targets Section 10 of the new bill, which makes it a felony to transport into Florida a foreign national who “entered the United States in violation of law and has not been inspected by the Federal Government since his or her unlawful entry from another country.”

“Criminalizing transportation without federal ‘inspection’ and subjecting individuals to vague definitions is both unconstitutional and unfair,” said Kate Melloy Goettel, legal director of litigation at the American Immigration Council (AIC), one of the groups who filed the suit. 

“This ill-advised legislation not only singles out immigrants and their families but also poses a threat to the social and economic well-being of Florida’s communities,” added Melloy Goettel.

The Florida law, which went into effect July 1, also includes provisions to expand the use of E-Verify, a controversial federal program to check employees’ immigration status; ban the use of certain out-of-state drivers’ licenses granted to undocumented immigrants; and require hospitals to collect information on patients’ immigration status.

But the lawsuit filed Monday focuses on the transportation chapter of the law, calling it “hopelessly vague and incoherent, because Floridians and travelers into Florida have no way to know which people fall within its terms.”

According to the plaintiffs, the law’s language does not match up with federal immigration statutes, leading to confusion about who the bill would consider to have been “inspected” for immigration purposes.

The law doesn’t distinguish between undocumented immigrants, asylum seekers, immigration parolees or any other immigration status that could apply to people who initially entered the country without prior authorization.

AIC, along with the Southern Poverty Law Center, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), ACLU of Florida, Americans for Immigrant Justice filed the suit on behalf of the Farmworker Association of Florida and nine unnamed plaintiffs who say they would face criminal charges under the law.

The plaintiffs range from U.S. citizens who provide transportation to immigrants for humanitarian or health reasons to a married couple of undocumented farmworkers who work seasonally in Florida and other states.

“Each year, to maximize the seasons that they work, they usually spend about six months of the year working in Florida and six months of the year working out of state. They travel together across states. This year, however, they did not leave Florida to work out-of-state because they were frightened that if they left Florida, they would not be able to return, due to Section 10,” reads the lawsuit.

“Not only is this law detrimental to our members’ abilities to put food on their own tables, it is detrimental to our members’ ability to put food on everyone’s tables,” said Nezahualcoyotl Xiuhtecutli, general coordinator of the Farmworker Association of Florida.

The complaint names as defendants Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), Attorney General Ashley Moody (R), Statewide Prosecutor Nicholas Cox, and the 20 Florida state attorneys.

Jeremy Redfern, the press secretary for DeSantis’s executive office, lashed out at the ACLU over the lawsuit and defended the law as a protection against human smuggling.

“The ACLU has for years drifted increasingly leftward and out of the American mainstream. Long are the days when the ACLU defended actual civil liberties, such as free speech and religious rights. But taking the side of human smugglers–something truly outrageous and abhorrent–wasn’t on our bingo card,” said Redfern in an email to The Hill.

“Nevertheless, in Florida, we will continue to fight illegal immigration and the evil predations of human smuggling. We look forward to defending Florida and its humane laws against attacks by the ACLU and its leftist cronies.”

DeSantis has made immigration a linchpin of his presidential campaign, seeking to present a more hawkish vision than former President Trump, the leading candidate for the GOP nomination.

One plaintiff identified as M.M. — a mother of five, including four U.S. citizens — who overstayed her visa and is seeking relief in immigration court, said she joined the suit “because this law harms our family and many others.”

“We aren’t doing anything to hurt anyone. On the contrary, we’re here working, paying taxes and trying to provide a safe life for our families. Now we’re scared to even travel together as a family. I would never want my son to face a felony for traveling with his mother and his sister. It makes no sense. We’re family — how can this be?” said M.M. in a statement.

–Updated on July 18 at 9:04 a.m.