Town hall on immigration law going into effect July 1
TAMPA, Fla. - The League of Latin American Citizens (LULAC) hosted a town hall meeting to discuss Florida’s immigration law (SB 1718) that goes into effect on July 1.
Five panelists were in on the discussion, including an immigration attorney, a public defender, a state attorney, a representative from the Beth-El Farmworker Ministry, and the Deputy Director of Faith in Florida.
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"My office’s issue is public safety, that is my number one concern, immigration not our issue, however, we do come in contact with people who may not be citizens, very often that comes in the form of victims and witnesses," explained Susan Lopez, the Florida State Attorney representing Hillsborough County.
When the bill becomes the law of the land, there’s concern that migrants in our community will be apprehensive about working with law enforcement or the courts, even if they have vital information that could crack a case.
"I want victims and witnesses of crimes to know that we stand up for them no matter what their status is," said State Attorney Lopez.
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State Attorney Susan Lopez says she does not want victims or witnesses to be afraid to come forward, and that their immigration status would not questioned by the state attorney’s office. Law enforcement and their authority to enforce the new immigration law was the first topic of conversation at the town hall.
An immigration attorney, a public defender, a state attorney, a representative from the Beth-El Farmworker Ministry, and the Deputy Director of Faith in Florida were panelists at the LULAC town hall.
"It specifically tells them that they need to enforce immigration law, law that they do not understand, that they have not studied," shared Alison Foley-Rothrock, an immigration attorney.
Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister was not at the town hall, but he put out a video on social media earlier this week clarifying the agency’s role after the immigration bill goes into effect.
"It’s important to note that the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office does not engage in federal immigration enforcement activities, we do not target individuals based on their immigration status, that’s the authority of federal agencies," said Sheriff Chronister in the video.
Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said that people won't be targeted based on immigration status.
The new law requires businesses to check the immigration status of workers, cracks down on people who bring undocumented immigrants to Florida, and requires hospitals that accept Medicaid to ask patients if they are in the country legally. People at the town hall expressed concern that migrants will be reluctant to seek medical help because of the new law.
"The actual law states that the hospitals have to ask, it does not state that you have to answer, an acceptable answer and an acceptable checked box on the forms that these hospitals will have is ‘declines to answer," said Foley-Rothrock.
The main goal from the town hall was for experts and community members to work together on educating each other on what the law is and how migrant communities can be better educated on what their rights are.