Farmworkers Self-Help, Inc.

FSH Executive Director Margarita Romo took members of our Teen Dream Team group to Tallahassee to witness first hand how our State Government works. They got to sit in on a meeting of the House Committee on State Affairs on Tuesday. During the two-hour workshop, sponsors of six immigration bills urged members to move forward on some tough immigration laws despite opposition from business and agricultural groups that rely on undocumented workers.
"The fact is the federal government is not doing what it needs to do," said state Rep. Gayle Harrell, R-Stuart. "We have a responsibility to the people of the state of Florida to do what we can to protect them."
They also heard from farm worker advocates who countered that the nearly one million illegal immigrants in Florida alone provide a vital service and need to be treated with respect.
"These people are trying to provide for their families," said Margarita. "These people aren't terrorists."
Panelists took no vote Tuesday and are expected to attempt to roll many of the bills together into one proposal. But that could prove difficult as the bills have powerful opponents in the business and agricultural communities.
"There are people in this state who exploit the current situation and they make money off of it," said Rep. Don Brown, R-Defuniak Springs. "They want to continue to make money off of illegal immigration."
Supporters of the bills say they are frustrated over federal inaction on the immigration front. Without a national immigration policy, they say states have to take charge.
"We want comprehensive immigration reform that is meaningful, that makes illegal aliens go home and wait in line," said William Landes, president of the Minuteman of Florida.
State Rep. Trudi Williams, R-Fort Myers, has a measure that would allow law enforcement officials to provide nonviolent inmates a plane ticket home after they complete half their sentence. With an estimated 5,000 illegal inmates now sitting in Florida prisons, the measure could save the state $100 million a year.
Among the bills we are watching:
• House Bill 73, which requires public employees to verify immigration status of people involved in law enforcement action. Requires citizenship information when applying for a drivers license or state-issued ID card.
• HB107 and SB 424: makes it a third-degree felony to transport illegal immigrants into the state. If the victim is a minor, the penalty jumps to a second-degree felony.
• HB 159: Prohibits state agencies from contracting with employers who do not qualify with federal worker authorization rules.
• HB 571, HB 821 and SB 540, which require law enforcement officials to report illegal immigrants to federal officials.
• HB 577 and SB1086 allow nonviolent offenders to get a plane ticket to their native country and bolsters penalties for deported offenders who return.
Speaking to members at the end of the meeting, Rep. David Rivera, R-Miami, said the focus should not be on the illegal aliens but on the businesses that hire them. Rivera said illegal aliens pay sales taxes, property taxes, corporate income taxes and gasoline taxes that in turn build schools, roads and bridges. "We love to have our cheap labor," Rivera said. "Until we cut the demand for that cheap labor we will have an abundant supply. Just as some are addicted to drugs, some are addicted to cheap labor and illegal aliens. "If we want to get serious, let's go after the agriculture sector," Rivera continued. "Let's go after the construction sector, the hospitality sector, the restaurants and hotels and shut them down."
FSH believes that there is a solution that can work for both sides but until both sides are willing to sit and talk, nothing will change.