Immigrants in Florida, facing a Texas SB-4 "anti-sanctuary" environment, activists say

Photo: John Gibbins, TNS U.S Border Patrol agents in Florida took someone off of a Greyhound...

A coalition of organizations in Florida issued an "emergency advisory " against traveling to the state in response to an increase of immigration arrests and a controversial bill in the state Senate, proposed legislation similar to Texas's anti-sanctuary city bill SB-4.

The Immigrant Coalition, a network of more than 20 immigrant and human right advocacy groups, said Wednesday that it was urging people "to reconsider visiting Florida" and especially recommended avoiding high-risk areas, including sea ports, airports and Greyhound bus stations.

"We are not calling for a boycott of Florida at this moment but, unfortunately, we are seeing an increase in cases of racial profiling and clear violations of civil rights," said Melissa Taveras, a leader of the coalition in Florida.

The advisory stated that immigrants and minorities are feeling "more threatened than ever before, with attacks on the national level being amplified by local anti-immigrant policies and corporations that refuse to protect their customers."

According to a Pew Research analysis, the U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement in Miami's area of responsibility, which covers all of Florida State, had the largest percentage increase (76%) in arrests last year compared to 2016.

Texas has the second city in the country with the highest increase in arrests in Dallas with 71 percent, while Houston only experienced a 5 percent uptick.

The Florida Senate is currently considering a controversial bill, the SB 308, to target "sanctuary cities" in the state. The state House of Representatives already passed another bill, the HB 697, which is similar to the SB 4 bill approved in Texas but partially blocked by a judge in August, right before it was supposed to go into effect on September 1.

A decision about the constitutionality of the Texas bill is pending in a federal court of appeals.

Taveras said the coalition in Florida decided to issue the advisory "as an informative tool for immigrants and people of color in light of several concerning incidents happening in the state recently and a dramatic spike in ICE arrests."

She cited as an example an incident on February 19 when border patrol agents stopped a Greyhound bus in Fort Lauderdale and asked the passengers for their identifications to prove their legal status. In another example, also involving a Greyhound bus, agents on February 25 stopped the vehicle, checked the passengers and arrested an immigrant from Trinidad and Tobago.

The incidents have been criticized by human rights organizations nationwide.

The coalition created the hotline 1-888-600-5762 to assist immigrants in English, Spanish and Creole.

olivia.tallet@chron.com

Twitter: @oliviaptallet