Florida's annual Legislative Session continues through the first week in May, and one of the bills that lawmakers are considering is a bill, H.B. 83, that would increase the penalties for certain crims committed by someone who was in the United States illegally.
During a recent subcommittee meeting in Tallahassee, the Florida Immigration Coalition this piece of information to lawmakers for their consideration:
"As an undocumented immigrant, you do have constitutional rights here in the United States."
Our partners at PolitiFact Florida took a look at the claim to see if it was accurate. PolitiFact reporter Joshua Gillin says that the Coalition's claim rates MOSTLY TRUE on the Truth-O-Meter. Gillin says that there are certain guarantees for everybody, regardless of status.
"The Constitution notes that everybody is afforded several freedoms, including freedom of speech and freedom of religion," said Gillin. "This goes for everybody, not just for people who are legally in the United States."
Gillin notes that, while those guarantees are in place, not everything is guaranteed. "You do have a right to due process, of course," said Gillin. "However, there are laws that pertain particularly to that based on your status. One of the big ones, of course, is that you can't vote if you're here illegally."
Undocumented immigrants do enjoy some protections under the law and the Constitution, but not all protections afforded to people who are in the country legally, leading to a MOSTLY TRUE rating from PolitiFact's Truth-O-Meter.
SOURCES: Constitutional rights for undocumented immigrants?
- PolitiFact ruling
- Florida Channel, House Justice Appropriations Subcommittee, March 27, 2017
- Florida House, HB 83, filed Dec. 6, 2016
- Florida Senate, Staff analysis of SB120, February 2017
- Lobby tools, Summary of HB 83, 2017
- The Hill, "Yes, illegal aliens have constitutional rights," Sept. 29, 2015
- Forbes, "Does The Constitution Protect Non-Citizens? Judges Say Yes," Jan. 30, 2017
- Miami Herald, "Put Florida Supreme Court in position of telling us that we’re wrong,’ lawmaker says," March 15, 2017
- Miami Herald, "Plan to treat undocumented migrants more harshly in criminal court unlikely to go far," Feb. 3, 2017
- Miami Herald, "Vote on constitution change fuels dispute," (Accessed in Nexis) Oct. 16, 1998
- The Gainesville Sun, "State changes course on immigration policy," March 19, 2017
- ACLU, "The rights of immigrants position paper," Accessed March 28, 2017
- Florida Bar Journal, "Protecting Basic Rights of Florida Citizens," October 1998
- PolitiFact, "Is being in the United States unlawfully a 'crime'?" March 15, 2017
- Interview, Ilya Shapiro, senior fellow in constitutional studies at the libertarian Cato Institute, March 27, 2017
- Interview, Gabriel (Jack) Chin, professor and director of clinical legal education at the University of California-Davis law school, March 27, 2017
- Interview, Kermit Roosevelt, law professor at the University of Pennsylvania, March 27, 2017
- Interview, Jennifer Gordon, Fordham Law School professor, March 28, 2017
- Interview, Stephen W. Yale-Loehr, Miller Mayer, LLP and Professor of Immigration Law Practice, Cornell Law School, March 28, 2017
- Interview, Paola Calvo Florido, Florida Immigrant Coalition, Inc. spokeswoman, March 28, 2017
- Interview, Rep. Dane Eagle, R-Cape Coral, March 28, 2017
- Interview, Steven Camarota, Center for Immigration Studies spokesman, March 28, 2017