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Immigrant Crime Bill Draws Sharp Rebuke

FLSenate.gov

Florida state Sen. Travis Hutson, R-Elkton, wants to enhance penalties for crimes committed by,“aliens unlawfully present in the United States.”

The bill died last year, but advocates are worried now that President-elect Donald Trump successfully waged an anti-immigration campaign. Florida Immigrant Coalition policy director Francesca Menes:

“Based on the recent election and who got elected, and a lot of the promises and commitments that he made, we expect that all of our communities, for the most part, are going to be under attack," she says.

A Senate committee chairman refused to hear Hutson’s bill last year. He has narrowed the bill’s scope, but Menez says it still would not withstand a constitutional challenge.

Rep. Dane Eagle, R-Cape Coral, is backing the bill in the Florida House of Representatives.

A Miami native, former WFSU reporter Jim Ash is an award-winning journalist with more than 20 years of experience, most of it in print. He has been a member of the Florida Capital Press Corps since 1992.