Lawmakers have approved legislation preventing local governments from approving IDs for undocumented migrants.
Earlier this week, the House passed HB 1451, which bans "counties & municipalities, respectively, from accepting certain ID cards or documents that are knowingly issued to individuals who are not lawfully present" in the U.S.
The Senate has now followed suit, putting the bill on a glide path to Gov. Ron DeSantis.
The bill deals with an isolated problem largely solved already. Various South Florida jurisdictions have accepted such identification in recent years, though those initiatives stopped being funded last Summer.
The Rep. Kiyan Michael and Berny Jacques "carbon copy" bill ultimately was substituted for Sen. Blaise Ingoglia's measure (SB 1174). After robust debate on the legislation with Democrats expressing qualms about banning these cards for undocumented immigrants, the bill was nevertheless positioned for success.
Ingoglia said the bill banned identification cards from an entity "knowingly issuing" them to undocumented immigrants "for the purpose of getting government programs," in introducing his bill Tuesday, when the bill was on the Special Order calendar.
Illustrating his point when answering a question from Sen. Tina Polsky, Ingoglia noted the legislation targets identification for "illegal immigrants" who could use it to get a "government benefit" such as a hypothetical "free food" program for identified residents of a given area.
"The states should stop making magnets and programs tailored to illegal immigrants because it fosters illegal immigration," the Spring Hill Republican explained.
Senate Democratic Leader Lauren Book asked about the need for undocumented immigrant parents to have IDs to register "children that are born here" to enroll children in school. Ingoglia claimed that a student residency questionnaire would suffice for that.
During the discussion Wednesday ahead of the vote, a Democrat took one more stand against the bill.
Sen. Lori Berman suggested the legislation was to make undocumented immigrants uncomfortable, but she was the only speaker ahead of the 28-9 vote in favor of the bill.
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