Good morning and welcome to Thursday. Congress and the Biden administration are haggling over major changes to immigration law and national security as record numbers of people are being apprehended at the border and many cities don’t have enough shelters for migrants. In Florida, the state’s tough immigration law is getting a closer look too as U.S. District Judge Roy Altman weighs three different motions in the coming weeks. A hearing in Miami yesterday was the latest development over the law, one Gov. Ron DeSantis often heralds on the presidential campaign trail. Civil rights and immigration groups want Altman — a Trump appointee — to block a portion of the law (SB 1718) that makes it a felony to “knowingly and willfully” transport undocumented immigrants into Florida. They said it caused migrants to cancel holiday get-togethers with family, upended seasonal planting and harvesting work trips and caused them to miss worship services and medical appointments. The state argued that the law only applied to people who hadn’t given federal authorities notice of their U.S. presence. But the plaintiffs said the wording was too vague, tries to supersede federal law and could end up targeting people who are in the process of obtaining legal immigration status. The law’s language says people who have “not been inspected by the federal government” can face arrest. As of the end of September, only three people were arrested under the expanded human smuggling rules, the Tampa Bay Times reported, though neither this statistic nor more recent ones were raised during yesterday’s nearly 2.5-hour hearing. The DeSantis team had an ask of Altman too. They want the governor’s name dropped from the lawsuit, saying he isn’t the one enforcing the immigration law. Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody and county state attorneys are also listed as defendants in the suit. Altman repeatedly questioned the state over their enforcement argument, noting that DeSantis has played a role in enforcing laws given that he suspended two state prosecutors — Andrew Warren and Monique Worrell. Attorneys countered that he hadn't done so under this statute. The final piece Altman is considering is whether to allow some plaintiffs to stay anonymous as the case advances. For now, certain plaintiffs are listed in the lawsuit only by their initials. Attorneys argued yesterday that undocumented immigrants and their families were worried about facing harassment, threats, prosecution or risk having their children taken from them if their names appear in easily accessible court documents. “Tensions have risen since the passage of this law,” Evelyn Wiese, attorney at Americans for Immigrant Justice, said at the hearing. While Altman didn’t rule immediately, he said anonymity typically is granted only in very narrow cases, such as to help protect juveniles or victims of abuse, otherwise it’s hard to draw the line about who gets to keep their identities secret in court. “Typically the person who takes a shot at the king has to do it in the public eye,” argued Robert Schenck of the DeSantis administration. — WHERE’S RON? Gov. DeSantis will participate in a virtual press conference with Iowa media at 11 a.m. EST and he’ll join Sean Hannity on Fox News Channel during the 9 p.m. EST hour. PROGRAMMING NOTE: We’ll be off next week and the week after for the holidays but back to our normal schedule on Tuesday, Jan. 2. Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for Playbook? Get in touch at: kleonard@politico.com | 
No comments:
Post a Comment