State bill prohibits human smuggling

It's hard to believe, but until the 2009 legislative session, it wasn't illegal to smuggle aliens into Florida. If the governor signs HB 123, it will be.

If deputies detained a man or woman without citizenship papers, unless they had committed another crime, they had no reason to hold the alien or the transporter who brought them there, said Michael Durham, general counsel for Highlands County Sheriff's Office.

"Immigration is a collateral issue," Durham said. "The state and county are not authorized, under federal law, to determine their status."

Local officers can ask immigration authorities if they're interested the alien. If not, the alien is released.

"We have a strong interest in this county," Durham said. According to the sheriff's Oct 1-Dec. 31 quarterly report, Immigration and Customs Enforcement picked up 44 illegal aliens from the Highlands County jail, and placed detainers on 30.

If transporting an alien into Florida becomes a crime, Durham said, "It gives you a reason to investigate further. It's an element to start more investigations, better investigations."

Until now, state law prohibited human trafficking - transporting migrants into the country through coercion or fraud for exploitation. Human smuggling is consensual. If the new state law goes into effect Oct. 1, police officers and deputies will have on-scene arrest powers.

Sen. Paula Dockery, R-Lakeland, who carried the companion bill, SB 502, emphasized that the bill does not alter state or federal laws relating to illegal immigration, but is intended to protect human lives and punish "unscrupulous smugglers."

"We're going after the smugglers," Dockery told the Florida Sun Sentinel. "It's more about protecting the human rights of those that they're transporting. They're putting these people in very dangerous and life-threatening situations in order to profit from their illegal activities."

Even so, Courtenay Strickland, public policy director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, is concerned about racial profiling.

"Who's going to get pulled over and suspected of violating this law?" she asked. "How are people going to be identified?"

The bill was amended, she pointed out, to criminalize bringing an illegal alien from another country. HB 123 doesn't prohibit bringing an alien from Georgia or Alabama.

The Border Patrol has told the Congress that border crossings are declining. During hearings last week, U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer cited reports showing the number of people captured along the Mexican border between Oct. 1 and May 15 was down 27 percent from the same period the previous year. Along the U.S-Canada border, the number was down 13 percent.

Crist has not received the bill, and has not promised to sign it, said his press secretary, Sterling Ivey.

"He said during session that he supported the measure and looks forward to reviewing the final language when it reaches his desk," Ivey said Friday.