Miami – This week, Florida’s Republican-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee approved measure SB 1808, a bill aimed at expanding and updating the current sanctuary city ban (SB 168) to include any policies and protections put in place by local governments. Gov. Ron DeSantis has been strongly pushing for the bill which would take effect immediately after DeSantis signs it despite the fact that SB 168 is in a legal battle at the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals after being struck down by a federal judge in Miami.
Romina Montenegro, Florida Advocacy Coordinator of United We Dream, said:
“While millions of Floridians deal with the nightmare of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ failed COVID-19 response, he is instead choosing to prioritize hurting immigrants, many of them having helped to keep us safe, fed, and healthy throughout the pandemic. Instead of focusing on his failed-COVID response plan, he and Republicans are pushing for the expansion of the sanctuary city ban as well as deputizing local law enforcement to collaborate with ICE. Clearly, Governor DeSantis is prioritizing discriminatory and anti-immigrant policies over the lives of Floridians as the state currently has over 5 million confirmed COVID cases and 64,002 deaths.
Make no mistake, SB 1808 is an orchestrated policy proposal aimed at growing the support of white supremacists through xenophobic and racist policies. We will continue to call out this and other draconian initiatives including efforts to undermine abortion, voting and LGBTQ rights which seems to be a key priority of the DeSantis Administration.”
