On Tuesday, state Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, R-Spring Hill, filed a bill that “seeks to protect Floridians while making our state a leader at countering Biden’s mounting border crisis.”
“It is unfortunate that state governments are having to step in to protect their residents from the incompetence and unlawful open border policies of the Biden administration,” said Ingoglia. “SB 1718 is the most comprehensive and strongest, state-led anti-illegal immigrant piece of legislation ever put forth. This should be the model for all 50 states going forward to push the federal government into finally doing its job and fixing a crisis they have created.
“I wholeheartedly thank and commend Gov. Ron DeSantis for having the courage to lead on this issue, when the federal government is failing our citizens, our families and our communities. This problem is now at our doorstep and Florida will not stand for it anymore,” Ingoglia added.
The bill proposes:
Enhanced fines and penalties on Florida businesses that hire illegal immigrants up to $10,000 per worker and revocation of all business licenses in the state; additionally authorizes FDLE to conduct random audits of businesses for compliance with this immigration law;
Enhanced criminal penalties for those caught engaging in the human smuggling of illegal immigrants;
Florida will not recognize any out of state licenses issued to illegal aliens;
Prohibition on local governments from giving money to non-profits to create identification cards for illegal immigrants;
Authorizes Sheriffs in county jails to take DNA samples when an illegal alien is arrested and an ICE detainer is issued;
Mandates that hospitals receiving Medicaid dollars from the state start tracking how much money is spent on illegal immigrants in Florida emergency rooms;
Removing the law that allows illegal immigrants to get a law license in the State of Florida.
