2011..A New Fight..In the State of Florida

Two-Thousand Eleven. A new year and a new beginning. 2010 is in the books, and 2011 has already started with a bang. Only a few days into the year and I am already writing my first post! That is definitely a step in the right direction in the battle against procrastination! After a family-filled New Year's Eve celebration and good times at a nearby house party, I am more then ready and focused to tackle the obstacles and hurdles of the new year. And so is SWER, FLIC, and the rest of the immigrant community fighting for equality and social justice. Where is the fight this time around, you may ask? Here, in our very own state of Florida! Let me fill you guys in, briefly:
In the past several months, Florida lawmakers have been scheming a "copycat" bill to the Arizona SB 1070 bill that was put into effect in July 2010. This is a horrendous piece of legislature that makes it legal for law enforcement to ask for legal status of ANY person who they deem suspicious of being in the country illegally. How do they determine this supposed illegality? How else, by judging their appearance, therefore assuming that the person "looks" like an undocumented alien. E-Verify was also signed into effect, where businesses have to provide information to the local government showing whether their workers are legal or not. Furthermore, it requires any "alien" in the state of Arizona to be carrying their paperwork at all times. If that person is arrested, they are also not able to be released until the proper documentation is presented. Arizona basically took matters into their own hands, and is trying to do the job of the federal government, which is the only entity that is authorized to determine deportations.
Now, to the Florida SB 136 bill which has already been introduced in the Florida Senate. It is basically the SAME exact Arizona bill, but it EXCLUDES Canadians and thirty-three countries of Western Europe to be scrutinized by the bill. Sounds a little like racial profiling? I think so. It would also add greater penalization to those immigrants arrested without proper documentation financially and legally. They would be convicted of a higher crime and also be required to pay a greater sum of money. This bill is morally, legally, and UTTERLY wrong! It must be stopped, and Friday, January 7, 2011, we took a step in the right path to this bill's demise!
Representative William Snyder held a townhall meeting in Martin County to hear what Floridians had to say about this racial profiling bill that is in the works in the Florida legislature. Mind you, Snyder is one of the co-sponsors along with Florida Senator Mike Bennett, who created the SB 136 bill. So, we showed up in mass to speak out against this horrific bill and we definitely prevailed that day.
We arrived at the Stuart local library where the townhall meeting was being held a bit late, but as we pulled into the parking lot, I knew it was going to be a heated, tension-filled environment. The Republican Tea Partiers were out waving their flags, as Gaby turns to me in the backseat of Natalia's car, and says "Oh man, the Tea Party is here, this might get ugly." We get dropped off, walk hastily past the Tea Partiers, to find our friends holding a press conference outside of the library. All of a sudden, in the middle of the cameras and Felipe's discourse, an old, bald White man in a red checkered shirt and jeans shoves Felipe out of the way and starts babbling in front of the cameras on how the SB 136 bill HAS to be passed and gives his own definition on ILLEGALS and how they are basically the devil. He rants and rants until Subhash kindly asks him if we can continue with the press conference and to show some type of respect to the human race. My blood is boiling already at this point and this has only just begun. I step away from all the tension and go inside the room to find Juan straddling his arms across five chairs saving us seats. Aryanne and I make our way towards Juan and I can feel the eyes on me. The room is predominantly Caucasian, at least in the side that I was walking through, and I felt completely out of place. All these White folks are staring at me with their beady eyes thinking "What is this SPIC doing here?" But, I brush it off, and take my seat.
After a brief introduction by the oh-so benevolent Rep. Snyder on the rules that everyone has to follow, he opens the floor to the speakers that are going to share their thoughts about the bill. Snyder warned and pleaded that everyone show respect and dignity to each person that is speaking which would allow a smooth transition to the meeting as a whole. I guess the advocates of the racial profiling bill did not listen because they were the only ones that were rude and disrespectful throughout the entire evening. One of the ladies sitting behind me was so blatantly racist and condescending that if she would have been a man, I would have loved to have punched her in the face. With every speech that was against the proceedings of the bill, she would mutter under her breath and speak nonsense that I even asked her to "quiet down please" during Angie's speech. And that was being nice. Aryanne had to squeeze my hand, which reminded me that I had to be civilized. I could not stoop down to that level of ignorance or else I would be just like her.
In the end, the immigrant voice prevailed! We out numbered those FOR the bill 30 to 8 and we were obviously more respectful but also showed the greatest support after a speaker's speech by show of applause and praise. It was the first of many tough battles we are going to have here in Florida before this racial profiling proposal is killed, but it was definitely a good start!
We are not going to let the same thing happen in Arizona without a fight. Florida is NOT Arizona and we are going to have our voices heard at each and every event of this nature!
"If it's not one thing, it's another," Aryanne said early in the night, but what better way to win at something if it is not hard-fought. Of course, the easy way out would be to not even have this issue in our state and not to worry about such an atrocity of a legislative proposal try to pass. But, no, it is alive and well. And, we must fight it. Victory will be that much sweeter if our backs are against the wall.