Florida increases the stakes for crime by immigrants from the US illegal

By David A. Lieb and Kate Payne, Associated Press

Tallahassee, fla. (AP) – for most people in Florida, theft of crime can lead to up to one year in prison and a fine of $ 1,000. For an illegal immigrant from Florida, the same crime now has a criminal penalty up to five years behind bars and a fine of $ 5,000.

new laws in Florida Come as president Donald Trump The cracks down Illegal immigration. They impose tougher sanctions for offenses committed by people illegally in the US than for everyone else. The consequences are particularly rigid for the 1st degree, which now has an automatic death sentence for anyone who is in the US illegally.

While Florida is more aggressive than most, there are other states that take into account similar measures to improve criminal sanctions based on immigration status.

A discouragement, but is it constitutional?

Republican Governor Ron Desantis He says “Florida will be safer and safer” and a model for other states, because of its immigration laws.

Harder pensions are intended to be a discouragement element, said the Republican Republic of the Republican state Lawrence McClure.

“Do not come illegally to the state of Florida,” he said. “This is the premise.”

Some supporters of civil rights and legal experts increase the alarm.

The laws “lead to a frontal collision with the constitutional guarantee equal to all those in the United States,” said César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández, law professor at Ohio State University, specialized in immigration and criminal law.

Are the sentences of compulsory death permitted?

On his first day in office, Trump ordered a renewed accent on Death punishment. His executive order highlighted two particular reasons for this: killing an law officer or committing any capital offense while illegally in the US. But federal jurors and judges would continue to decide if they impose the death penalty.

In 1976, the US Supreme Court led the mandatory death penalty in North Carolina for the first degree, violated the prohibition of the Constitution for the cruel and unusual punishment. The states of that time have generally used judicial procedures in which jurors first decide guilt, then weigh aggravating and attenuating factors when deciding whether the defendants should be sentenced to death.

“There is a long lasting precedent, specifying that the laws regarding the mandatory death penalty are unconstitutional,” said Kara Gross, legislative director and main political counselor for the American Florida Civil Liberties.

But the new Florida laws eliminate the judicial discretion in some cases. They ask the courts to impose a penalty with the deaths of the illegal US defendants, who are found guilty of capital offenses, such as the 1st degree or rape for children.

The Republican State Senator Randy Fine has acknowledged that the legislation it co-sponsor will probably face a legal challenge, but it is expected that the Supreme Court will overthrow its previous judgment.

“It is almost 50 years later,” he said, adding, “the Supreme Court changes his opinion on things.”

More time for the same crime

Last year, Desantis signed a law Improving punishments for persons who commit state offenses after they have been previously deported and convicted for illegal re -entry in accordance with federal legislation. The measure increased the sentences by a classification, which means that someone convicted of a third-degree crime, usually punished by up to five years in prison, and a fine of $ 5,000 would be sentenced to a second-degree crime with up to 15 years in prison and a $ 10,000 fine.

The latest Florida laws illegally apply similar improvements to condemn to anyone in the US, regardless of the convictions for re -entry and apply the increased sanctions for crimes.

If the new laws are challenged, said García Hernández, a court could probably look at a decision of the Supreme Court of 1982. Justice said that Texas did not show a substantial state interest for a law prohibiting the financing of the State School for children who are not “legally admitted” in the USA, which will not be ” No person in his jurisdiction equal protection of laws ”.

In order to defend the Florida law, state lawyers should probably answer a similar question: “What is your convincing justification for treating people who are accused of a crime – the same crime – differently based only on their citizenship status?” Said García Hernández.

Other states can follow Florida leadership

Pending legislation in several states – including Alabama, Idaho, Indiana, Minnesota, South Carolina and Texas – would allow increased penalties for some state -committed immigrant offenses in the USA, according to an associated press analysis using the associated press use. Plural billing software.

A draft law of the state senator from Texas, Pete Flores, would raise penalties for most of the crimes committed by people in the US.

Flores, who is the chairman of the Criminal Justice Committee of the Senate and co-founder of the Hispanic Republican Caucus, described the legislation as “a common-sense response to the crime to implement the rule of law and to better protect Texans.”

The legislation that has passed by the Utah Senate and is now pending in the room, adopts a narrower, focused on theft and drug trafficking. This would require compulsory imprisonment penalties, without the potential for early release, for repeated criminals who are US legal residents or for any criminals who have been previously deported and then convicted to the federal court to re -enter the USA

Republican state senator, Cal Musselman, said his legislation concerns “a small group of individuals”. Order officers told him that they see “a clear connection between being deported several times, entering and committing crimes in the state.”

Lieb reported from Jefferson City, Missouri.

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Payne is a member of the Body for Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America It is a non -profit national services program that places journalists in the local news rooms to report on undercover issues.

Originally published: February 28, 2025 at 10:09 AM EST