Florida Evangelicals and Catholic Bishops Speak Out Against Governor DeSantis’s Efforts to Criminalize Immigrants and Their Loved Ones

6 APR 2023

Evangelical and Catholic leaders say a Florida bill that establishes felonies for having an undocumented person in your home or car – among other anti-immigrant provisions – threatens their religious liberty and targets families

WASHINGTON, DC – As Ron DeSantis’ potential 2024 presidential bid continues to plummet in national polls, the governor is facing serious backlash from conservative religious leaders and groups. They vehemently oppose the series of radical anti-immigrant proposals DeSantis unveiled in late February that are now advancing through the state legislative session.

The new Florida bill (SB 1718) establishes third-degree and second-degree felonies to drive, rent or live with an undocumented immigrant; prohibits local funding of community identification programs (such as popularly-supported municipal level identification cards); creates new restrictions for small businesses to hire immigrant workers; and mandates healthcare providers to disclose patients’ immigration status. Floridians could be punished by up to 15 years in jail for violating this law. In addition, the bill sponsor in the Senate, Republican State Senator Blaise Ingoglia, has threatened to add a provision to terminate in-state tuition for Dreamers.

Just last week, Florida evangelicals held a rally outside of the state legislature to protest these

these efforts by DeSantis and Florida Republicans. They called out the measures as a dangerous infringement on religious liberty that hindered their ability to preach the gospel:

“As followers of Christ, we are living out our faith most clearly when we answer the call to care for those in need: widows, orphans, immigrants and the poor,” Jody Ray, a pastor at Chets Creek Church in Jacksonville, said on a recent conference call. “Any law that would hinder our ability to carry out our calling to care for anyone in need would be a violation of our religious freedom.”

“As Christians, we are commanded to love our neighbors as ourselves, and that includes immigrants that God brings into our state,” said Gary Shultz Jr., a pastor at First Baptist Church of Tallahassee. “If this bill were enacted as currently drafted, it would place Florida’s Christians and churches in an untenable decision, having to decide between obeying biblical commands or facing criminal penalties for showing biblical compassion.”

“Elected officials seeking to appeal to evangelical voters are making an error, morally and strategically, by pursuing harsh, anti-immigrant legislation, especially when they go so far as to criminalize basic elements of church ministry in the process,” said Gabriel Salguero, pastor at The Gathering Place in Orlando and president of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition. He added that he wanted DeSantis and his Republican allies in the Florida Legislature to “abandon this misguided bill.”

The Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops also added their voice of opposition to this horrific anti-immigrant legislation. In a letter criticizing the proposal, the conference — the nonpartisan, public policy voice of the Florida Catholic Church — said it unfairly targets the immigrant community and those trying to help them, calling it an “an unprecedented intrusion.”

“Criminalizing the mere transport or shelter of undocumented migrants within the state will have far-reaching negative consequences in the agriculture industry and the business and faith communities,” the letter says. “Requiring hospitals to collect data on patients’ immigration status may stigmatize patients and discourage them from seeking needed care, which could place a greater fiscal burden on already-strained medical systems if those individuals experience emergencies at later times,” the letter says.

These policy measures would impact Florida’s economy, businesses, as well as U.S. citizens and immigrant families. Florida’s workers who are undocumented contribute more than $1.8 billion in federal and local taxes. In Florida, there are nearly 800,000 U.S. citizens who live with a person or family member who is undocumented. Over 340,000 U.S. citizen children live with family members who are undocumented and more than 285,000 of those live with an undocumented parent. Additionally, 132,000 U.S. citizens have a spouse who is undocumented. If this bill is signed into law, these U.S. citizens adults who live with an undocumented person would potentially be exposed to a third degree felony.

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