| Story Views | |
| Now: | |
| Last Hour: | |
| Last 24 Hours: | |
| Total: | |
Florida Bills Deemed Racist by Immigrant Advocacy Groups
Immigrant advocacy groups flooded the Florida Capitol yesterday in order to protest two bills that they deem unconstitutional and racist.
The bills in question are SB 786/HB 697, which would outlaw sanctuary cities in Florida, and a bill that would see illegal immigrants receiving harsher penalties than a US citizen would for committing crimes.
Francesca Menes, the policy and advocacy director of the Florida Immigration Coalition, slammed the bills at a press conference where several representatives of advocacy groups and Democratic Lawmakers joined supporters to protest the bills. Menes commented that they “are tired of having the same conversation with our legislators, as if we — as immigrants — do not contribute to the state of Florida. We contribute economically to the state of Florida. Our families are here, and we are here to stay.” She also added that the groups are “standing here, demanding that we stop all of this, because our families are sick and tired of being threatened of being separated.”
She called President Trump a “bully who is threatening to take away our funding,” and Democratic Representative Carlos Guillermo Smith from Orlando also criticized the President by adding that “It is very important now, in Donald Trump’s America, that we resist the racist and bigoted policies that are being put forward. … We have to resist these unconstitutional policies. We understand that the immigrant community, the immigrant population make up the economic spine of Florida and our country. Everyone that is here is here to work; they are here to make our communities better.”
Lost in the rhetoric and political jargon is the distinction conservatives and Republican lawmakers have been trying to highlight between legal and illegal immigration, and President Trump’s campaign was run on combating illegal immigration and deporting any criminal immigrants that are currently in the United States.
The post Florida Bills Deemed Racist by Immigrant Advocacy Groups appeared first on Shark Tank.
Source: http://shark-tank.com/2017/03/29/florida-bills-deemed-racist-by-immigrant-advocacy-groups/
