Bill Could Block “Certain” Refugees From Entering Florida

Gov. Rick Scott’s promise to bar Syrian refugees from settling in Florida has gotten an assist from a bill filed in the state Senate. Sen. Wilton Simpson (R-Trilby) has filed a bill dubbed “Prevention of Acts of War,” that would effectively ban “certain” refugees from entering the state of Florida and prohibiting anyone who has official business with the state from helping them.

The bill is vague and doesn’t specifically mention Syrians. Instead, it singles out “certain foreign refugees and immigrants.” What does that mean? Well, according to the bill, any “foreign refugee or immigrant for whom there is reasonable cause to believe that he or she originates from, or has been in close proximity to, any location in which invaders or prospective invaders are known to originate or organize or train for violent acts of war.” Invader means any noncitizen who plans to enter Florida with the aim of committing terrorism or waging war. The bill would mandate that the state conducts a background check on any prospective immigrants to see if they fit the criteria.

That basically means if your country has bad people in it and you’re attempting to flee from them, well, sorry, you wouldn’t be welcome in Florida with open arms, because, well, you lived in the same country as those bad people.