SPLC Action Fund Condemns New Florida Bill to Relocate Immigrants Throughout the U.S.

TALLAHASSEE – On Feb. 3, 2023, the Florida Legislature introduced identical bills in the House and Senate that would create and fund an expanded program to transport immigrants across the U.S. Senate Bill 6-B and House Bill 5-B would replace the $12 million “Relocation Program” the Florida Department of Transportation used last year to fly approximately 50 immigrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard.

The bills are being considered this week during a special session of the Florida Legislature, controlled by Republicans in both the House and Senate. The proposal is an extension of Gov. DeSantis’ Jan. 6, 2023 Executive Order, which appropriates Florida’s emergency and disaster relief funds to address purported “dangerous impacts” of immigration, none of which are described or specified within the order. The expanded Relocation Program would be housed within the Florida Division of Emergency Management, and implementation of the program is left almost entirely to the discretion of the agency, whose director is appointed by and serves at the pleasure of the governor.

Under the new scheme, immigrants could now be relocated from any location, not just Florida, to anywhere else in the U.S. It targets a category of immigrants referred to as “inspected unauthorized aliens,” a term invented by bill drafters that does not exist in federal immigration law. Notably, the term, by the bill’s own definition, consists of people already known to, and have been processed by, the U.S. government, which could include asylum seekers and other individuals who have received grants of humanitarian parole.

During the Florida House Appropriations Committee hearing yesterday, Representative John Snyder explained that the $10 million allocation for the Relocation Program would also be used for surveillance, reconnaissance and investigation of perceived “inspected unauthorized aliens.”

The bills fail to set forth clear boundaries or give any guidance to the Florida Division of Emergency Management personnel or their contractors on how they will identify and relocate immigrants across the country. The bills widen the door to racial profiling because there is no way to achieve the Relocation Program’s goals without relying on a persons’ race and national origin. 

The following statement is from Paul R. Chávez, senior supervising attorney for the SPLC Action Fund:

“This state program purports to give Florida authority to target and then transport immigrants across the country with few limitations on the state executive’s power, and without resolving existing lawsuits over the infamous flight to Martha’s Vineyard and the unconstitutional program that funded the flight. This program has the makings of an expensive, unwieldly, and unchecked program – a waste of taxpayer money totaling $10 million. Florida cannot use immigrants across the country as pawns to continue its attack on our federal immigration system. We stand with immigrant communities across the country being cruelly targeted by the Florida government.

“This legislation is yet another political stunt by Gov. DeSantis and his allies at the expense of Floridians with urgent needs across the state. This legislation will waste precious taxpayer resources in service of the Governor’s continued efforts to build a hostile and unwelcoming environment for immigrants in Florida, while everyday Floridians face rising housing and insurance costs and food insecurity.

“SPLC Action Fund will continue combatting racist and anti-immigrant hatred across Florida and fight to welcome people of all nationalities, races and ethnicities to our state."