Florida: Ron DeSantis, Admin Sued Over Shocking Immigration Laws

Florida's Ron DeSantis-backed immigration law faces another legal challenge as several advocacy groups sued the state and the governor over it.

These groups seek to block the state from enforcing the controversial FL SB 1718 law as it could impede federal immigration authorities and lead to "unlawful arrest, prosecution, and harassment." They also argue that the new Florida immigration law "inflicts enormous harm on people's ability to go about their daily lives."

According to Politico, the lawsuit was filed in a federal court in Miami and targeted the Florida immigration policies backed by Ron DeSantis. Opponents of the law argue that it places "thousands of Floridians and residents of other states -both citizens and noncitizens alike- at risk of being arrested, charged, and prosecuted with a felony for transporting a vaguely-defined category of immigrants into Florida."

The complaint also argues that "Families may be unable to visit each other across state lines. Parents who live near the state border may be unable to drive their children to medical appointments or soccer matches."

Several groups filed the lawsuit, and it is led by some of the biggest rights groups in the country, including the Southern Poverty Law Center and the ACLU Foundation of Florida. Also filing the suit are the American Immigration Council and the Americans for Immigrant Justice. These groups have filed the lawsuit on behalf of the Farmworkers Association of Florida, which has nearly 12,000 members who are both documented and undocumented.

The groups say that the new immigration law is unconstitutional as it goes "far beyond" federal immigration policies and also penalizes "a wide array of conduct that Congress chose not to prohibit." In addition, the lawsuit states that it "impedes the federal immigration scheme by preventing immigrants from entering Florida."

Florida Immigration Law Affecting Businesses

When DeSantis signed the bill into law, migrants living in Florida went into a panic, forcing many to leave the state and find opportunities in other states like Georgia and Illinois.

Local Florida business owner Brenda Cintron, who showed solidarity with the people affected by the new law, spoke with WGCU and admitted businesses like hers will be affected because of the lack of workers. Restaurants, farms, construction, and many other businesses rely on migrant labor to function.

"It's going to ruin our business," she said. "It's very bad, very bad in an economic way." The Florida business owner added that "the roofing [industry], the stores - everything is going to go down. It's going to be very terrible."

Churches Also Affected by Ron DeSantis's Florida Immigration Law

It is not just businesses that are feeling the effects, but churches as well. Secundino Casas, the pastor of Iglesia Evangélica Menonita Shalom in Tampa, spoke with Anabaptist World and stated that many in his church are afraid.

"Our faith community is 95% immigrants; half have gone to other states," he said.

Andres Mendoza, pastor of Iglesia Menonita Encuentro de Renovación in Miami, also spoke with the outlet and stated that many in his congregation are planning to leave Florida too. These churches have now sought the help of an immigration lawyer as more and more congregants leave.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: Immigration advocates file lawsuit against Senate Bill 1718 - CBS Miami