TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – On Friday, the Florida Senate passed laws that dealt with immigration, university diversity initiatives, and the ability for physicians to deny treatment if they had moral objections to specific treatments. These bills were part of an escalation of the cultural war that has dominated this year’s legislative session in Florida.
Each of these concerns is consistent with the overarching narrative that Governor Ron DeSantis has been laying out as he gets closer to declaring his intentions to run for president in 2024.
The immigration measure contains wording that would allow DeSantis to continue the program under which he transported immigrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, last year. The program was carried out by the terms of the immigration statute.
However, because Republicans hold a supermajority, their Democratic colleagues are powerless to prevent legislation from moving forward even though the Democrats have argued vehemently against each bill. Before heading to DeSantis, each of the three bills must first get approval from the House.
The immigration measure would increase requirements for companies to utilize E-Verify to check individuals can work legally in the United States.
Additionally, the bill would prevent local governments from contributing money to groups that give identity cards to persons who are unlawfully present in the nation. Immigrants who are not authorized to be in the nation and who drive with licenses from other states are another focus of this initiative.
“We have a crisis with illegal immigration to the point where some people are calling it an invasion coming over our southern border, and I don’t use that word lightly – invasion,” said Republican Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, who is the bill’s author. “We have a crisis with illegal immigration to the point where some people are calling it an invasion coming over our southern border.”
Democrats, on the other hand, claimed that the law was motivated by partisan considerations.
“Immigration management is not within the scope of our responsibilities, and we are just engaging in political posturing to provide you with an opening to criticize how the present government handles the issue.
But you would have never passed this measure between the years of 2016 and 2020, and you know it,” said Democratic Representative Tina Polsky, alluding to the administration of former President Donald Trump. “You know it.”
Under the proposed legislation for higher education, public institutions would be barred from spending state or federal funds on diversity, equality, and inclusion initiatives, as well as on programs that encourage political or social engagement.
DeSantis is known for his consistent criticism of diversity initiatives, which he characterizes as racially divisive and discriminatory. He asserts that these programs are a component of the so-called “woke” attitude in the educational system.
The proposed healthcare legislation would empower medical professionals to exercise their conscience and opt out of performing treatments like abortions, vasectomies, and others if they had moral or ethical objections to doing so.
