An 11-7 vote by Jacksonville City Council will require many nonprofit organizations to make sure any city grant funding they get won’t assist residents who are in the U.S. illegally.
But the council exempted all services for children during a June 10 debate that brought angry exchanges about motives and messages.
City Council member Rory Diamond said his bill is a response to former President Joe Biden having an “open border” that allowed millions of people to enter the country illegally. He referred to what’s happening in Los Angeles where a mix of peaceful protests and violence broke out last weekend over ICE raids in that city.
“Are we a nation of laws or a nation of anarchy?” Diamond said. “Are we Jacksonville or are we Los Angeles? Are we Florida? Are we California? Are we going to be a place that says we are going to follow the rule of law or are we going to be a sanctuary city?”
City Council member Tyrona Clarke-Murray, who opposed the bill, told Diamond the message behind the legislation is just the latest chapter in an ugly history of dividing people based on stereotypes.
“You are doing something that has been done over hundreds of years,” she said while she recounted fearmongering about Native Americans, African Americans and Asian Americans.
“You’re trying to take us back, and we’re not going back. We’re not,” she said. “…It’s a waste of our time It’s a waste of our efforts. Let me tell you again — stop vilifying unauthorized aliens. They don’t do what you say they’re doing.”
Much of the council’s debate centered on services for children because Diamond’s bill originally applied to non-profit organizations that receive grants from the Kids Hope Alliance.
“We should never use public policy to dehumanize people, especially children,” City Council member Matt Carlucci said.
City Council member Raul Arias, who voted for the bill, won support for an amendment that exempts all services provided by nonprofits to children.
“It’s not their fault that they’re here undocumented,” Arias said. “They have no idea what’s going on. If they need services, who are we to deny those services?”
Protest rally denounces legislation as attack on children
Before the Council meeting, on the steps of City Hall, around 80 protesters gathered to condemn the bill, particularly its targeting of children’s programs. Participants held sheets of paper with photographs of kids and pleas for Council members to reject the legislation.
“Please don’t kick us out of after-school programs,” one sheet of paper said under a picture of two girls sitting in a classroom. “Where else can we go when our parents work late?”
Organizer Maria Garcia, with the Jacksonville Immigrant Rights Alliance, said the pictures represent the children and families that would be harmed by the ordinance. She said that the council was attacking the Kids Hope Alliance, which funds nonprofits that provide programs like summer camps, early learning, juvenile diversion and more.
“They want to say to children, who had no say in where they were born or where their parents took them, that they don’t deserve those services,” Garcia said.
Other signs and chants targeted council member Diamond. Two signs declared that “Rory Diamond hates kids” while protesters chanted, “Rory Diamond, you will not win. Stop attacking immigrants.”
Representatives from several local organizations spoke at the protest, including the Jacksonville Community Action Committee, Take ‘Em Down Jax, Florida Rising and the Jacksonville Palestine Solidarity Network.
The Florida Immigrant Coalition’s Pierre Uwimana said immigrants, including those who are undocumented, are a critical part of the local economy and contribute to government services through their taxes. Uwimana described the bill as a witch hunt that diverts resources from other issues which he, along with the other speakers, urged the City Council to focus on.
“This ordinance is a dangerous political stand,” Uwimana said. “It does nothing to improve public safety. It only distracts from the real crises that Jacksonville residents face every day, like unaffordable housing. There are plenty of basic infrastructure needs to keep this Council busy 20 times over.”
Monica Gold, a middle school teacher in Duval County Public Schools, was also a speaker at the protest. She said that many of her students are immigrants and that legislation like Diamond’s bill creates a culture of fear among their families.
“I know in other schools in Duval County — not mine, but other ones — there’s a decrease in attendance from our [English second language] learners due to this type of legislation and policies,” Gold said.
Republican Party called on council to support Rory Diamond’s bill
The Republican Party of Duval County urged City Council members to support Diamond’s legislation. The Republican Party noted that after City Council approved legislation in March making it a local crime to be in Jacksonville while being in the U.S. illegally, Mayor Donna Deegan let the legislation become law without her signature.
“After the mayor refused to sign the Jacksonville Illegal Immigration Act, our city council doubled down on its stand against illegal immigration,” the Republican Party said before the City Council meeting. “We are proud of council member Rory Diamond who has filed (the bill) to hold the mayor accountable for all spending related to illegal immigrants and ensure every tax dollar spent benefits citizens.”
The Jacksonville Illegal Immigration Act, which council approved March 25 on a 12-5 vote, is modeled after a state law that Gov. Ron DeSantis signed earlier this year.
A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction against the state law after a lawsuit challenged it on constitutional grounds. A federal appeals court on June 6 upheld the preliminary injunction while the lawsuit proceeds in court.
For the vote on Diamond’s bill, City Council carved out an exception for grants given to UF Health Jacksonville for treatment of poor residents. UF Health must give medical care to everyone who seeks it.
City Council committees approved an amendment last week that would have exempted Kids Hope Alliance grants for a year after Kids Hope Alliance CEO Saralyn Grass said requiring nonprofit organization to check the immigration status of children would be a “huge burden” on those providers.
Ultimately, City Council decided to exempt the Kids Hope Alliance and all other grant-funded programs serving children from the bill.
Bill heads next to Mayor Deegan to sign or veto
Other exemptions added to the bill include grants that help victims of sex and labor trafficking, domestic violence victims, pregnant women, active-duty military, and Department of Health programs combating the spread of infectious diseases.
The bill heads next to Deegan who will have two weeks to either sign, veto it or let it become law without her signature.
“Mayor Deegan has concerns about the bill, city spokesman Phillip Perry said. “She will be reviewing it and weighing all her options.”
The 11-7 vote for the bill would fall short of enough votes for City Council to override a veto.
City Council member Ron Salem, a supporter of the legislation, said portrayals of the legislation being cruel reminded him of the rhetoric around legislation last year to reduce the number of homeless people camping on sidewalks and city property.
“How many of you are talking about homelessness now?” Salem said. “Nobody.”
Council members who voted against the bill said it forces a federal issue into local government.
“This bill weaponizes fear under the guise of immigration reform, and we cannot do that,” City Council member Rahman Johnson said.
City Council member Ken Amaro said the bill “divides us and works to divides us” while distracting city leaders from focusing on issues such as public safety and roads that are in the domain of city government.
“Because now here we are pouring out our emotions, drawing lines of division,” Amaro said. “While the intent was good, this is clearly not good policy for this legislative body. It may make good politics, but it’s not good policy.”
Voting for the bill were Diamond, Arias, Salem, Randy White, Kevin Carrico, Joe Carlucci, Terrance Freeman, Nick Howland, Mike Gay, Will Lahnen and Chris Miller.
Voting against it were Amaro, Johnson, Clark-Murray, Matt Carlucci, Michael Boylan, Reggie Gaffney Jr. and Jimmy Peluso.
(This story has been updated to add new information.)
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: City Council members clash during vote on latest illegal immigration legislation
Reporting by David Bauerlein and Sarah Monoson, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
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