On Wednesday morning, supporters of a state House bill that would grant in-state tuition rates to the children of undocumented immigrants received a major shot in the arm when Clearwater state Senator Jack Latvala announced he is sponsoring a similar bill in the Senate. House Speaker Will Weatherford is sponsoring the original House bill, but the question about whether it will get sufficient hearings in the Senate has been the question, as Senate President Don Gaetz opposes such legislation.
Meanwhile, early Wednesday evening, an activist group in front of Tampa's City Hall called for the granting of drivers licenses for all undocumented immigrants under a steady drizzle.
"We're here to say to the city of Tampa, Mayor Bob Buckhorn, our local Florida politicians, they have to help pave the pathway to getting a drivers license," said Marisol Marquez of Raíces en Tampa, an activist group who says they have written up a resolution they want city officials to support.
Although any such law regarding drivers licenses would ultimately have to be passed by the state Legislature, the activists say they're working with sister groups across the state to build the momentum before reaching out to state lawmakers.
The resolution that Raíces en Tampa have drafted is a symbolic one in support of Driver's Licenses for All.
Marquez says the Dream Defenders in Orlando and the United Families and Students Working for Equal Rights in the Doral area are proposing similar resolutions before their local lawmakers as well. "Because we know that in California and Illinois, they were able to have their cities support, and with that they were able to move forward," she said.
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, last year ten different states, including Illinois, enacted laws allowing unauthorized immigrants to receive drivers licenses or permits. California will begin doing so in 2015.
Claiming it's virtually impossible for working people to petition their government in Tallahassee, Marisol said her group is urging citizens to contact their local representatives to get behind their resolution. "How can we possibly expect our state officials to support us if our local people don't support us?" she said.
"Last session, Governor Scott vetoed a drivers license for DACA recipients — and that only affects a small part of the immigrant population in Florida," said Chris Cano with the Latin United League of American Citizens (DACA refers to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals)."What Raíces en Tampa is advocating for is drivers licenses for all undocumented immigrants."
Cano said it's a safety issue, because if an undocumented immigrant gets into a car accident, they probably don't have car insurance. "So it just makes sense from a public safety point of view that our governor and our state legislature advocate for this for consumer protection."
Jared Hamil with Raíces en Tampa said the group had presented the resolution to members of the City Council, who essentially passed the buck, saying that under Tampa's strong-mayor form of government they should direct the issue directly to Mayor Buckhorn. He said the mayor had not returned his phone calls.