As Hurricane Idalia intensified Tuesday morning, people like Laudi Campos have been fielding calls from community groups asking if Gov. Ron DeSantis’ stringent immigration law will limit their ability to help immigrant families prepare for the storm.
As residents in Volusia County, just outside the Orlando area, tried to decide whether to evacuate or hunker down in a safe place, some were asking if people who went to shelters in the state would be asked for identification and what the potential impact would be for those lacking legal immigration status.
Campos, who is the state director for the Hispanic Federation, one of the nation’s largest Latino advocacy organizations, has been letting community organizations know that identification is “not a requirement.”
“They should go to a shelter, if they feel that their life is in danger,” she told NBC News.
The Hispanic Federation as well as other Latino and immigrant rights organizations in Florida have been reminding residents bracing for Hurricane Idalia that anyone can request shelter, regardless of their immigration status.
The reminder comes weeks after DeSantis’ SB 1718 law went into effect on July 1, imposing restrictions and penalties meant to deter the employment of undocumented workers in the state.
Some of these make it a felony to “knowingly and willfully” transport an undocumented person into the state (including relatives and acquaintances), invalidates out-of-state driver’s licenses issued to immigrants who lack legal status and requires hospitals that accept Medicaid to ask about immigration status (though patients may decline to answer the question).
“Floridians & immigrants CAN request shelter & aid!” the organization said in a social media post on Monday as it urged residents to share the information.
Even though shelters are not required to ask about immigration status under SB 1718, the law has already sowed doubt in immigrant communities “because they know that they have already…
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