Republican lawmakers in Florida are crusaders for religious freedom — until it interferes with riling up the MAGA base. Why else would they criminalize pastoral outreach as a means to attack President Joe Biden on immigration policy?
Legislation proposed by Republican state Sen. Blaise Ingoglia of Spring Hill would toughen work requirements and penalties aimed at making Florida a less desirable place for undocumented immigrants. SB 1718 also broadens the authority for state and local law enforcement to assist federal agencies in enforcing U.S. immigration law in matters “within or affecting this state.” That opens an entirely new avenue for a governor expected to enter the 2024 Republican presidential race to capitalize on partisan attacks against a Democratic White House.
But the real novelty of the legislation is how it ensnares churches, nonprofits and private individuals in the state’s immigration crackdown. The bill expands the definition of “human smuggling” by making it a third-degree felony to harbor, shield or even transport anyone that a person knows “or reasonably should know” has entered the U.S. illegally.
The measure invalidates any privilege an undocumented immigrant gets from having a driver’s license issued from another state, and it bars cities and counties from funding groups that provide undocumented immigrants with ID cards. The bill also requires hospitals to collect the immigration status of their patients.
Ingoglia said his proposal is a response to Biden’s immigration policies, and that “anyone who comes out against this bill is pro-illegal immigration and pro-open borders.” Of course, reality isn’t as simplistic as that. A policy expert for the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops said the legislation would harm families, citizens and those with mixed immigration status “who suddenly cannot bring a friend, a neighbor or a loved one” to church, the grocery or the doctor without risking arrest. “It essentially criminalizes the Christian call to charity and service,” the conference’s Christie Arnold told the Tampa Bay Times. The chilling effect on major Florida industries, from construction to agriculture, would also be far-reaching.
Many of the 100 members of the Living Grace Church in Polk County are from Mexico, Central America and Puerto Rico. They fear the bill could cause them to lose housing, transportation and other everyday needs, pastor Josue Carbajal told the Times. “Where’s our religious freedom?” he asked. “Our work as pastors and members of a church is focused on a spiritual need and humanitarian commitment, and certainly not based on a person’s legal status.”
The bill fails to make any practical distinction between human smuggling and the pastoral work that churches and nonprofits routinely provide in helping immigrants find shelter, run errands and see to their family’s welfare. More than 775,000 immigrants without permanent legal status live in Florida, according to the Pew Research Center, and it’s the services these charities provide that help keep immigrant families in productive society.
The ID cards that local governments and nonprofits offer, for example, help undocumented immigrants access libraries, recreation centers and other worthwhile services. While hospitals could not refuse medical care to undocumented immigrants or report them to authorities, merely asking the question would invariably cause anxiety and cause many to flee.
“We recognize that current immigration policies and systems are broken and in need of comprehensive reform,” Bishop Gregory L. Parkes, who oversees more than 450,000 Catholics in the Diocese of St. Petersburg, told the Times in a statement. “However, the proposed (bill) is an inadequate response to the reality that many of our immigrant brothers and sisters are facing today and would only serve to force them into the shadows of society. We can do better.”
Religious leaders and volunteers should be applauded for the work they do in keeping these families together and their communities safer and healthier. They should not be punished as pawns because the two major political parties cannot compromise on a smarter immigration policy.
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Editorials are the institutional voice of the Tampa Bay Times. The members of the Editorial Board are Editor of Editorials Graham Brink, Sherri Day, Sebastian Dortch, John Hill, Jim Verhulst and Chairman and CEO Conan Gallaty. Follow @TBTimes_Opinion on Twitter for more opinion news.
