05/08/2023
NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
May 8, 2023
Leaders of the Palm Beach Hispanic community call for a press conference to ask Governor Ron DeSantis not to sign bill SB 1718
On Friday, May 5, more than 50 community leaders from Palm Beach County had a meeting. The purpose was to plan a course of action to ask Governor Ron DeSantis not to sign bill SB 1718.
At the meeting, representatives of the following organizations were present: The Florida Hispanic American Chamber, The Guatemalan-Maya Center, The Hispanic Pastors Association, The Hispanic Education Coalition of Palm Beach County, The Farmworker Coordinating Council of Palm Beach County, Latin Quarter West Palm Beach, and Caridad Center.
In addition, Colonel Tony Araujo from the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, Joel Flores - Mayor of City of Greenacres, and Michael Barnett - Commissioner of District 3 Palm Beach County,
SB 1718 will have a detrimental effect on the economy of the State of Florida; it will increase crime since the trust between law enforcement and the immigrant community will be hampered, which is critical for safe communities. We have worked hard for many years to nurture that trust, and this bill, will, upon its signage, destroy the positive inroads our law enforcement has made with our immigrant community here for many years. Many of the undocumented among us, the majority who are members of mixed-status families, will fear going to the hospitals and will not get medical attention which in turn will negatively affect the health of our communities.
Many of the undocumented are our essential workers in the agriculture, food, and travel industries. E-Verify is a good step forward, but without legalizing our essential workers at the same time, the bill will cause economic havoc. Many local companies will leave the State, new companies will not consider Florida, and local businesses will lose their employees.
We know the local Hispanic community is in great fear since many have called pastors and community leaders to express concern about this bill. People are already in panic mode. Given the great hysteria that is already palpable in our Hispanic community, we ask you to please refer the bill to be overlooked for its constitutionality, and during that time, we invite you to visit our County to hear our concerns and our suggestions to fix our broken immigration system and asylum system and attend the root causes that are promoting this mass migration at the border. Many of us have worked for many years with our growing Hispanic community and want to help you promote good public policy.
We invite the community to a press conference on Monday, May 8 at 11:00 am in front of the Main Courthouse building at 205 N Dixie Hwy, West Palm Beach, FL 33401.
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For more information contact
Emma Vélez
Tel. 561-594-6044
Email: [email protected]