Releases Executive Order Again Targeting Immigrant Communities
After Defeat in Federal Court
MIAMIâŻâ The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) issued the following statement by AJ Hernandez Anderson, a senior supervising attorney with the SPLCâs Immigrant Justice Project responding to Gov. DeSantisâ latest Executive Order aimed at targeting immigrant communities and children in the state:
âWhile this is clearly political posturing for the Governor and his ambitions, this executive order will have a chilling effect and serious consequences for immigrant communities, children, and persons of color across the state by preventing them from accessing key resources and subjecting them to racial profiling. Worse still, it reflects a total disregard for the most vulnerable children by targeting unaccompanied minors.
âIn addition, this order clears the path for the Governorâs administration to collect data without sufficiently sharing the raw data with the public, and without any clear safeguards against manipulation and skewing of information privately collected, which could easily be used in their ongoing disinformation campaigns about immigrants.
âThis order is yet another attempt by DeSantis to require law enforcement to racially profile individuals, meddle in local affairs, evade separation of powers, and deter immigrants and persons of color from fully participating in our communities across Florida.
âWe join those from across Florida in expressing our collective outrage at this despicable order by contacting Attorney General Moody and Gov. Desantisâ offices. Like SB 168, this must be STOPPED.â
Last week aâŻfederal court delivered a major blow to DeSantis and his racist allies by ruling that his anti-immigrant bill (âSB 168â) violated the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution in a decisive victory for communities who fought to defeat the law beginning in 2019.
The case,âŻCity of South Miami, et al. v. DeSantis, et al.,âŻwas filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Miami Division.
Those interested in making clear their opposition to this order and Gov. DeSantisâ ongoing war on immigrant communities can contact the Office of Attorney General Ashley Moody here: http://myfloridalegal.com/contact.nsf/contact?Open&Section=Attorney_General.