TAMPA, Florida — Multiple advocacy groups are vowing to fight a part of Florida's new immigration law.
This week, the Southern Poverty Law Center, American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Florida, Americans for Immigrant Justice and American Immigration Council filed a motion for a judge to block section 10 of SB 1718, which criminalizes driving undocumented people into the state. The groups argue it illegally infringes upon federal law and is unconstitutionally vague.
While the motion was denied immediately on Tuesday on the basis of not giving the defendants proper notice, the groups now say they plan to file it again.
The new law is already having a significant impact on the immigrant community, including Diego Dulanto Falcon.
Falcon said, "There's always been this anxiety within my community, the immigrant community, of how do we get to the next day without getting deported?"
While Falcon is documented, his parents are not.
Now, as the family's primary driver, the state's new immigration law makes it a felony offense for Falcon to leave the state and return with his parents.
"Whether it's an emergency or not, I probably wouldn't leave with my parents," Falcon said. "Even if it's possible for us to come back in, I probably would not want to risk it, because not only does it put my parents at risk, it puts myself at risk."
Like Falcon, the plaintiffs in the lawsuit are uneasy to now get behind the wheel.
The case was filed on behalf of the Farmworker Association of Florida and various impacted individuals, including U.S. citizens and undocumented drivers and passengers who routinely travel in and out of Florida.
A.J. Hernandez Anderson, senior supervising attorney with the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Immigrant Justice Project, wrote in a statement, “Almost one million Floridians live in mixed-status immigrant families where undocumented parents, spouses and children share the same household as U.S. citizens and 'Lawful Permanent Residents.' Florida’s draconian anti-immigrant law — SB 1718 — puts entire communities at risk when family members are afraid to drive their loved ones to receive medical care, attend church events, comply with immigration court requirements or harvest Florida’s crops. This law must be stopped.”
The lawsuit was filed against Gov. Ron DeSantis, Attorney General Ashley Moody, Florida Statewide Prosecutor Nicholas B. Cox and the state attorney general offices for all 20 of Florida’s judicial circuits. In their motion, the plaintiffs are asking the court to block Section 10 in its entirety because it is an unconstitutional state law that regulates federal immigration and is unconstitutionally vague.
Evelyn Wiese, a litigation attorney with Americans for Immigrant Justice, said, "With this law, it's very unclear. I practiced immigration law for a number of years, and I could not tell you with certainty who you can bring into Florida and who you cannot bring into Florida."
For some immigrants like Falcon, the solution may be to leave the state permanently.
"For me personally, I'd rather be safe than sorry and leave Florida as soon as possible before something worse could happen," Falcon said.