Official Florida Governor Photograph

A news release from the Southern Poverty Law Center:

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TALLAHASSEE – On Thursday, Feb. 16, at 12 p.m. EST, join a virtual press call in response to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Legislature’s recent decision to create an expanded relocation program that will allow the Florida Division of Emergency Management (“DEM”) and law enforcement to hunt and target migrants anywhere in the U.S., including Florida, and relocate them to states other than Florida.

The law (SB 6-B) Gov. DeSantis signed today is an expansion of the original “relocation program” that funded the infamous flight of approximately 49 asylum-seekers from San Antonio, Texas to Martha’s Vineyard last September. The original relocation program was created by Section 185 of the 2022-23 General Appropriations Act, which allocated $12 million to the Florida Department of Transportation to transport “unauthorized aliens” out of Florida. 

The expanded relocation program created by SB 6-B will be under the authority of the DEM, which will purportedly use the $10 million allocated by SB 6-B to hunt, track, and surveil individuals deemed to be “inspected unauthorized aliens” — a term that does not exist in immigration law — who are either already in Florida or who are anywhere else the United States and believed to be heading to Florida, and then transport those individuals to other states. 

WHEN:  Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023, 12 p.m. EST

WHO: 

• Shalyn Fluharty, Americans for Immigrant Justice
• Paul Namphy, Family Action Network Movement (FANM) (Kreyòl)
• Monseigneur J. Fritz Bazin, Episcopalian Archdiocese in Little Haiti
• Luis Sousa-Lazaballet, Hope CommUnity Center (HCC) (Spanish)
• Tessa Petit, Florida Immigrant Coalition (FLIC)
• Bilal Askaryar, Welcome With Dignity (Moderator)

HOW: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_YEdDvIwlT_-NrftsZEwCbQ 

The following statements are provided by:

Shalyn Fluharty, executive director, Americans for Immigrant Justice:
Treating human beings with dignity and respect is a bipartisan value, as is avoiding confusion, chaos and disorder in our immigration system. Gov. DeSantis’s relocation program hinders every attempt to create a fair, humane and orderly immigration process, while using public funds to indiscriminately target individuals based upon their race and national origin. Floridians deserve a government that works for them, protects the constitutional rights of all Florida residents and utilizes valuable tax-payer dollars to invest in our communities.

Felipe Sousa-Lazaballet, executive director, Hope CommUnity Center:
This so-called “Transport Program” will further an agenda that harms us all. Immigrants are an integral part of our state. At Hope CommUnity Center, we know firsthand the impacts of policies that create fear in the immigrant community. Floridians need true leadership that unifies us. It is time for Governor DeSantis to use our resources to support struggling Floridians instead of targeting asylum seekers.

Tessa Petit, executive director, Florida Immigrant Coalition:
By signing this bill into law, Gov. DeSantis continues to use much-needed state resources to fund his political stunts. This confirms that our state legislature, once again, is not prioritizing Floridians and is making immigrants targets of hate and injustice — those same people who fled their homes in search of help, safety and a peaceful future. I call on all Floridians to remember that immigrants are parents, neighbors and friends, not the enemy.

BACKGROUND:
One-Pager on SB 6-B

KJ