TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – For most individuals in Florida, misdemeanor theft can lead to as much as a 12 months in jail and a $1,000 high-quality. For an immigrant illegally in Florida, that very same crime now carries a felony punishment of as much as 5 years behind bars and a $5,000 high-quality.
The new laws in Florida come as President Donald Trump cracks down on illegal immigration. They impose harsher penalties for offenses dedicated by individuals illegally within the U.S. than for everybody else. The results are notably stiff for first-degree homicide, which now carries an computerized loss of life sentence for anybody who’s within the U.S. illegally.
Whereas Florida is extra aggressive than most, there are different states contemplating comparable measures to reinforce legal penalties based mostly on immigration standing.
A deterrence, however is it constitutional?
Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis says “Florida will probably be safer and securer,” and a mannequin for different states, due to its sweeping immigration legal guidelines.
The stiffer penalties are supposed to be a deterrent, Republican state Rep. Lawrence McClure mentioned.
“Don’t come to the state of Florida illegally,” he mentioned. “That’s the premise.”
Some civil rights advocates and authorized specialists are elevating alarm.
The legal guidelines are “main right into a head-on collision with the constitutional assure of equal safety to everybody who’s in the USA,” mentioned César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández, a legislation professor at Ohio State College who focuses on immigration and legal legislation.
Are obligatory loss of life sentences allowed?
On his first day in workplace, Trump ordered a renewed emphasis on the death penalty. His government order highlighted two explicit grounds for it: murdering a legislation enforcement officer or committing any capital offense whereas within the U.S. illegally. However jurors and federal judges would nonetheless resolve whether or not to impose the loss of life sentence.
The U.S. Supreme Courtroom in 1976 dominated North Carolina’s obligatory loss of life sentence for first-degree homicide violated the Structure’s prohibition on merciless and weird punishment. States since then have typically used court docket proceedings wherein jurors first resolve guilt, then weigh aggravating and mitigating components when deciding whether or not defendants ought to be sentenced to loss of life.
“There may be longstanding precedent making clear that obligatory loss of life penalty legal guidelines are unconstitutional,” mentioned Kara Gross, legislative director and senior coverage counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida.
However Florida’s new legal guidelines remove judicial discretion in sure circumstances. They require courts to impose a loss of life sentence on defendants within the U.S. illegally who’re discovered responsible of capital offenses similar to first-degree homicide or little one rape.
Republican state Sen. Randy High-quality acknowledged the laws he co-sponsored will possible face a authorized problem, however he expects the Supreme Courtroom to overturn its prior ruling.
“It’s nearly 50 years later,” High-quality mentioned, including, “The Supreme Courtroom modifications its thoughts on issues.”
Extra time for a similar crime
Final 12 months, DeSantis signed a law enhancing penalties for individuals who commit state felonies after being beforehand deported and convicted of unlawful reentry beneath federal legislation. The measure elevated sentences by one classification, that means somebody convicted of a third-degree felony sometimes punishable by as much as 5 years in jail and a $5,000 high-quality would as a substitute be sentenced for a second-degree felony punishable by as much as 15 years in jail and a $10,000 high-quality.
The most recent Florida legal guidelines apply comparable sentencing enhancements to anybody within the U.S. illegally, no matter any convictions for reentering, and apply the improved penalties to misdemeanors.
If the brand new legal guidelines get challenged, García Hernández mentioned, a court docket would possible look to a 1982 U.S. Supreme Courtroom ruling. The justices mentioned Texas failed to point out a considerable state curiosity for a legislation barring state college funding for youngsters not “legally admitted” to the U.S. The excessive court docket cited the Structure’s 14th Modification, which says a state shall not “deny to any particular person inside its jurisdiction the equal safety of the legal guidelines.”
To defend Florida’s legislation, state attorneys would in all probability should reply an identical query: “What’s your compelling justification for treating people who’re accused of a criminal offense — the identical crime — in a different way based mostly solely on their citizenship standing?” García Hernández mentioned.
Different states might comply with Florida’s lead
Laws pending in a number of states — together with Alabama, Idaho, Indiana, Minnesota, South Carolina and Texas — would permit enhanced penalties for some state crimes dedicated by immigrants illegally within the U.S., based on an Related Press evaluation utilizing the bill-tracking software Plural.
A invoice by Texas state Sen. Pete Flores would increase penalties one notch for many felonies dedicated by individuals within the U.S. illegally.
Flores, who’s chair of the Senate Prison Justice Committee and co-founder of the Texas Hispanic Republican Caucus, described the laws as “a common sense, tough-on-crime response to implement the rule of legislation and higher shield Texans.”
Laws that handed the Utah Senate and is now pending within the Home takes a extra slim method centered on theft and drug dealing. It could impose obligatory jail sentences, with out the potential for early launch, for repeat offenders who’re lawful U.S. residents or for any offenders who have been beforehand deported after which convicted in federal court docket of illegally reentering the U.S.
Republican state Sen. Cal Musselman mentioned his laws targets “a small group of people.” Regulation enforcement officers have informed him they see “a transparent connection between being deported a number of occasions, coming in, and committing crimes inside the state.”
___
Lieb reported from Jefferson Metropolis, Missouri.
___
Payne is a corps member for The Related Press/Report for America Statehouse Information Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit nationwide service program that locations journalists in native newsrooms to report on undercovered points.
Copyright 2025 The Related Press. All rights reserved. This materials will not be revealed, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed with out permission.
