>>This week on NewsNight, Florida lawmakers debate sweeping legislation on immigration as Governor DeSantis slams what he describes as the Biden border crisis.

But opponents say it amounts to an attack on the immigrant community.

A look at immigration in the Sunshine State.

NewsNight starts now.

[MUSIC] Hello, I'm Steve Mort, and welcome to NewsNight where we take an in-depth look at the top stories and issues in central Florida and how they affect all of us.

First tonight, amid the last few days of high political drama nationally, it's also been an important week here in Florida.

The governor signed permitless carry into law this week and a six week abortion ban passed the Florida Senate as lawmakers pursue an aggressive timeline to pass some of the governor's key priorities.

Among those priorities, a sweeping set of new rules on immigration.

House and Senate bills feature several measures demanded by the governor.

They would, among other things, require hospitals to collect the immigration status of patients.

Stop the recognition in Florida of out of state IDs issued to undocumented immigrants.

Crack down on companies that knowingly hire immigrants who lack work authorization.

And it would make the use of fake documents to gain employment a third degree felony.

Well, my colleague Krystel Knowles has been looking into the employment part of this and joins me now.

Thanks for being here, Krystel.

Why does the governor and his supporters say legislation like this is needed?

>>Well, according to Governor DeSantis, he says the Biden administration is failing to protect the nation's borders.

And that causes a problem for Florida because, he says a lot of undocumented immigrants are coming to the state.

Now, the Florida House and Senate versions of the immigration reform bill would impose stiff penalties on private companies that employ someone who is unauthorized to work.

The governor says it builds on steps the state has already taken.

>>This will expand from our current requirements with which are just with public employees and with contractors.

With the state of Florida.

But if you have the ability to have different types of enticements, you're going to end up having more people that are going to want to come illegally.

If you remove the enticement of employment, then they're not going to want to come.

We need to do everything in our power to protect the people of Florida from what's going on at the border and the border crisis.

>>Well, that's the governor's perspective.

But additional penalties for private companies that hire workers without the correct documentation has been opposed in the past by some in the hospitality and agriculture industries, as well as immigrants rights groups.

Krystel, what have you heard from people on that side of the debate?

>>According to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, immigrant farm workers comprise 70% of that labor.

Of that number, about 40% do not have the required paperwork.

According to the Farm Worker Association of Florida, the proposals making their way through the legislature would result in harsh outcomes for workers, including homelessness.

And the group says that crackdown on undocumented labor is likely to push wages and food prices higher.

Compounding an already acute shortage of labor in agriculture.

>>Krystel thank you so much for your reporting there I really appreciate it.

Before we turn to our panel, let's hear from the Farmworker Association's immigrant rights spokesperson, Jeannie Economos.

>>It's a no win situation.

It's not good for employers because a lot of employers are now going to be very afraid to hire people and their employers are going to be targeted and be afraid of getting fines and even getting possible jail time for hiring people that they've been hiring for years.

It's bad for workers because they're the workers that are undocumented, that have been in their jobs for ten, 15, 20 and 30 years.

Why in the world would we want to target people who were doing some of the hardest work in this country that other people don't do?

Why would we want to target them and and threaten them with job loss?

>>Jeannie, Economos there, well, let's bring in our panel now to break it all down.

Joining us in the studio this week, Erik Sandoval, investigative reporter for WKMG News 6.

Thanks for being here, Erik.

Really appreciate it.

And Molly Duerig, who's also an investigative reporter over there at Spectrum News 13.

Thanks for coming in again, Molly.

Good to see you.

>>Thanks for having me.

>>Thanks for coming in, guys.

Erik, let me start with you on this one and pick up on the employment part.

First, the governor has called for mandatory use of the federal E-Verify system.

First of all, what is E-Verify?

>>You know, maybe you've seen it if you've applied for a job in recent years.

But basically it is a program designed for employers to to run your information through a federal database.

It goes to the Department of Homeland Security.

They see if you are a resident of the United States or if you were in the country illegally.

Basically, if you're qualified to be employed.

>>One of the more controversial parts of this, Molly, of SB 1718, it creates a third degree felony to conceal harbor or shield from detection, a person who is not in the U.S. legally.

Critics say that this could have broad implications for Floridians, even those with documents.

>>That's right.

So essentially, under this law, pretty much anybody who has any kind of interaction with someone who is undocumented could potentially be considered a felon.

There's actually been a push from religious leaders, even evangelical leaders, recently.

They're asking Governor DeSantis to abandon this law because they say it interferes with our religious freedom.

So, for example, inviting immigrants to come to their place of worship, providing food and other resources, providing transportation.

I mean, a lot of a lot of religious groups are kind of filling voids when it comes to this type of social service.

So, you know, that's just one aspect.

You've also got the lawyers who work with the immigrants.

They could also be held liable.

And one stat that just to wrap it up that I think is really interesting is as of a few years ago here at right here in Florida, more than 400,000 citizens live with at least one undocumented immigrant, according to some estimates.

So it could impact a lot of people beyond just undocumented-- >>Just if you ride in a car, whether with a member of your family or something like that, that could open you up to legal jeopardy.

Erik, one of the parts that's drawing attention is this requirement for hospitals to gather the immigration status of patients.

First off, I mean, why does the state say it needs that information?

>>You know, number one, they say it's an easy way to quantify how many illegal immigrants are coming into the state of Florida.

But to the governor's point, more importantly, how much taxpayer money is going to help with health care for these undocumented immigrants as well.

And that's part of his argument that he wants to protect the residents of Florida.

And this is one thing, he wants to protect them from.

>>That there's financial implications.

But, Molly, there's been a lot of pushback on this.

I mean, what do opponents of that particular provision say might be the impact of asking patients for their immigration status?

>>Yeah.

Critics say that this could have broad implications for our health care system at large.

It could it increase costs of care for everybody already as it is today.

Many immigrants fear seeking medical help because they do fear their immigration status being found out, being potentially deported.

So a lot of the time they don't have a primary care doctor.

They're not getting that preventive care that's of higher quality.

They end up going to the emergency rooms where, of course, care is more expensive, more people are waiting for care there.

And so that could increase costs over time tremendously for the greater population.

One other really interesting note, The American Medical Association actually discourages hospitals from asking for immigration status because they say it interferes with medical providers primary duty, which is to help not cause harm to patients.

So that's what they're there for, to provide care, not to figure out if their what their immigration status.

>>And, of course, asking for immigration status has been a debate also within local law enforcement agencies as well, and sort of gaining trust in those immigrant communities.

Erik, the immigration legislation is interesting in that it kind of departs from some positions that Republicans have traditionally held on immigration.

>>This is what is so interesting to me because, you know, when Lieutenant Governor Jeanette Nunez was in the house, she actually sponsored a bill that would have given vouchers to some illegal immigrants to go to college, some college tuition vouchers.

This was widely supported by Republicans in Tallahassee.

It passed and it was signed by then Governor Rick Scott, and it went forward.

And now this whole legislation is going to undo all of that.

And you know, what I thought was interesting was Rick Scott was just recently asked about this, and he said that he still stands by this concept that was passed in Tallahassee when he was governor and he would sign the bill again.

>>Still has some support in Republican circles, even in Florida.

Erik, the Biden administration sort of had to adjust its stance, hasn't it, at the border since it first took office?

Sort of there's been this massive influx at the southern border from Cuba Governor DeSantis has pointed out that from those nations, Florida is a large receiving state.

>>Yeah, and they're actually coming straight to Florida in some cases.

You know, he had to mobilize the national Guard to start patrolling the Keys.

And, you know, within just hours of one deployment, they were intercepting hundreds of people from Cuba.

And and other countries.

You know, thousands of people have been intercepted along the Florida coast.

So, you know, to his point, yes, a lot of people are coming directly to the state of Florida.

And people are also entering from the Mexican border in Texas and eventually making their way to Florida.

There have been so many interceptions along I-75 by FHP that we've actually reported on.

>>Yeah, that's an interesting point for sure.

And you can find more of Krystels interview with Jeannie Economos from the Florida Farmworker Association.

Plus, more in Spanish on our website.

There you'll also find links to both the House and Senate versions of the immigration legislation and the Florida grand jury report on migrant children.

It's all at wucf.org/newsnight.

Well the governor deployed the Florida National Guard earlier this year to the Keys amid the influx of Cubans crossing the Florida Straits that Erik referred to.

But the legislature is now being asked to fund $89 million for a reactivated Florida State Guard, according to reporting from Erik and the team at News 6.

The state guard, which could be operational by July 1st, is currently seeking recruits.

Let's take a look at a story that Erik prepared for WKMG on the funding that DeSantis administration is seeking in the budget this year.

>>June 15th of last year, Governor Ron DeSantis made the announcement that he wanted to bring back a military force that was Florida's own.

>>The Florida State Guard will be comprised of Floridians, and it will be designed to assist and help only Floridians.

>>The reason the governor claimed the Florida National Guard seen here rescuing Kissimmee residents after Hurricane Ian wasn't providing enough resources.

We checked and the National Guard's own records show that they have capped the number of troops at 12,000 since 1958.

The result, Florida now ranks 53rd out of 54 U.S. states and territories when it comes to the number of troops per capita.

Major General John Haas, who heads up the Florida National Guard, admitted to the Senate Military Affairs Committee last month.

>>We will always be challenged as long as we're an undersized formation.

>>22 other states have now supplemented the National Guard with their own state guard forces.

Florida's state guard started last year with a budget of $10 million.

News 6 has uncovered the governor now wants to increase that this year to $98 million in his budget request.

He's asking state lawmakers for 53 million to purchase marine and aviation equipment.

19 million to recruit, shoot and train state Guard troops.

22 million to build hangars and storage facilities.

And the rest would fund salaries for administrators.

What is your take on the Florida State Guard?

We brought that question to State Senator Victor Torres of Kissimmee.

>>I met with the National Guard.

>>He is the vice chair of the Senate Committee on Military and Veterans Affairs.

He says he saw firsthand that Osceola County needed more National Guard help when Hurricane Ian flooded that area.

But he says he has some concerns about reviving the Florida State Guard.

>>I don't want this money or this state guard to go for border security.

You know, I don't want it to be implemented where they're going to use them to go to Texas or the border or you know.

No, no.

We got our own issues here in the state of Florida.

>>Erik Sandoval reporting there.

Nice piece, Erik.

Interesting story for sure.

What is the history of the Florida State Guard?

We touched on it a little bit.

You know, it was really activated and had its heyday during World War Two.

And that was when basically they were trying to shore up what's happening in Florida during the war, when all the National Guard troops were deployed overseas and they were basically cut loose right after the war ended.

And since then, the state has had no state guard.

>>What is the difference for people who might not be familiar between a state guard and the Florida National Guard, sort of in terms of control?

And why does the DeSantis administration say it needs to be reconstituted?

>>So the difference basically, in a nutshell is the Florida National Guard is run by the U.S. Army and U.S. military, and they basically ultimately answer to the president of the United States.

The Florida State Guard would answer only to Governor Ron DeSantis.

He would be the commander in chief, if you will, of the Florida State Guard.

And again, the state guard is meant, especially in the spirit of this bill, to shore up the National Guard, which we mentioned in our piece.

You know, we rank 53 out of 54 states and colonies when it comes to the number of troops that we have available at any one time.

And last year, we had Ian and Nicole hit back to back.

We needed those National Guard troops to help some of the residents, you know, down in the southwest Florida and especially in Volusia County.

And there just weren't enough to go around.

>>And certainly that's the case that the administration has been making me.

What does the Pentagon say about those claims that that the Florida National Guard is being under-resourced militarily to say about that?

>>Very little at this point.

I will say that there are a couple memorial bills in Tallahassee right now which are basically okaying the state at large to ask Washington, D.C. to take another look at how many National Guard troops the state of Florida has.

See if the formula can't just be changed a little bit to give us more.

>>And here's the thing about that.

There are a large number of troops that are assigned to Florida that are stationed here in Florida.

But more than half of them are deployed overseas at any one time.

So that's part of the formula as well.

They need more of them to stay in the state.

>>I guess people forget that they can be deployed in overseas conflicts and aid work and that kind of thing.

I mean, Molly, there's been a lot of criticism, hasn't there, of Governor DeSantis was reconstituting the guard.

What is the criticism?

And I mean, as Erik mentioned, I mean, this fought - this kind of force is not unusual.

23 other states have them.

What is the pushback?

>>Right.

Right.

So the concern from a lot of critics is that it would basically provide kind of a lack of oversight and accountability, too much power in the governor's hands as Eric mentioned, the governor would be in charge.

He'd be able to make the final call about many things.

A few things.

The state guard would be independent from not only the National Guard, but also FDLE.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

>>Wouldn't be part of that apparatus.

>>Right.

Totally separate from that.

And the rules would be exempt from the reviews usually required under the Administrative Procedures Act.

And as as we were discussing, you know, it was revived last year in the context of natural disasters.

You know, we had those awful storms.

But under this bill, the state guard would have the power to potentially break up any demonstration that displeases the governor.

So the concern is really more about who is overseeing this, this entity, this, you know, paramilitary group and what they'd have the power to do.

>>Well, let's talk, Erik, about this sort of expansion of the state guard in terms of funding that the DeSantis Administration is calling for.

And what do they envisage?

>>Recruiting, recruiting, recruiting.

And a lot of a lot of military power.

You know, we mentioned there's tens of millions of dollars that are earmarked for aviation and Marine units.

There's just over $1,000,000 in administrative salaries.

You know, the head of the Florida State Guard.

And there's also money set aside for the training camp that will ultimately be built and formed for these recruits.

So that's what they're envisioning right now.

And I want to dovetail something that you said to some of the pushback on this is about the concern that Senator Torres said, and that is some people don't want the state guard to be used to send them to Texas and have them help fill the gap along the Texas Mexican border for what some people call the DeSantis you know, immigration policy.

A lot of people do not want that.

>>But there is a parallel effort, isn't there, to allow the state guard to be deployed to other states?

>>Yes, there is.

And they actually added that after our story aired, we did follow up on that.

An amendment was filed which would allow the state Guard troops to help other states in air quotes.

And, you know, we asked a little bit about that and we found out there's actually an organization and it's a it's a coalition, if you will, of all the state guards in the United States.

And they have an interstate compact that they enter into that Florida would have to enter into.

So if there is a natural disaster in another state with a state guard like South Carolina, let's say a hurricane just plows through the Charleston area, the Florida State Guard would be mobilized to go and assist them.

But there is concern because it's not codified like that.

And the state guard can still be sent to a Texas or another area to help with some other agenda item.

>>Yeah, possibly immigration some critics might say.

Well, it'll be really interesting to see how that pans out and be sure to join this conversation as well on social media were at WUCFTV on Facebook, Twitter, and also on Instagram as well.

Well, another issue before the legislature, the safety of amusement rides, which will have an outsize impact here in central Florida.

Senate Bill 902 has been dubbed the Tyree Samson Act, named for the 14 year old who plunged to his death from the Freefall Drop tower at Icon Park last year.

It's designed to improve the regulation of theme park safety.

And Molly has been covering this story extensively.

Molly, just remind us about the facts behind this tragedy, first of all.

>>Absolutely.

So the ride first opened early part of last year, early part of 2022.

And interestingly, at a press conference, the rides owner said, you know, answer the question about is there a weight limit on this ride?

He said, no, there's no weight limit.

That'll be important later on.

So a couple of months later, after the ride, it first opened.

14 year old Tyree Samson was visiting Orlando on his spring break from out of state.

It was late at night.

He and some friends got on the freefall ride and he was sat in the ride and he unfortunately very tragically fell off of the ride.

He he slipped out and he died.

It would later become clear through the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services investigation that the rides manual did have a weight limit and that Tyree had been well above it.

The manual also mentioned seatbelts, but there were no seatbelts on the ride.

It was only a pull over harness and, you know, it just goes on and on with this ride.

But an engineering outside analysis found that two seats had been specifically manipulated so that usually if the harness doesn't fully latch over passenger, there's a sensor that tells the ride that and it won't go up.

Right.

Well, two specific seats had been manipulated so that, yes, it would still go up.

The sensors were manipulated and folks were trained that, you know, some of them were teenagers.

Young people working the ride were trained, put larger people in these seats.

And that's what happened that night.

>>Channel 13 has been covering this story extensively, and so is News 6 as well Erik.

>>Absolutely.

You know, just dovetailing off that a little bit, we were basically your your team and our team have been peeling the onion away very slowly on this and getting detail by detail as as news conferences have been held.

Geraldine Thompson, Senator, has been really, you know, involved in this in the investigation.

And, you know, you just have to stop and think what was it, seven inches that the the straps or the the harness was was moved?

Is that what the investigation found?

It really makes you pause and think when you get on.

It makes me pause and think.

Let me say that when you go to any city, not just Orlando and look at these rides and think, am I safe, it really raises red flags and it's concerning.

>>Let's talk about this legislation that the lawmakers are looking at.

What would it stop the Tyree Samson act?

What would it require?

>>So SB 902 would create minimum training and retraining standards for amusement ride employees.

That's a new thing.

It would also add a new requirement for training sessions to be immediately documented so that there's proof that that training is actually happening again.

This is this is all new.

They'd also it would also create more ride inspectors who would be authorized to conduct some random unannounced inspections, make sure that things are actually running appropriately at these rides.

A new amendment, interestingly, was recently added after a push from the lawyers representing Tyree Samson's mother, Nekia Dodd.

The new amendment now requires secondary or redundant, as they're called, restraints for any rides above 100 feet tall.

Now, a ride safety expert that I've interviewed extensively says, you know, he's happy about that amendment, but he wishes that it was just for all thrill rides.

Any ride that induces a certain level of force or, you know, exposes you to extreme heights should have a redundant safety measure, which the freefall ride did not have.

>>When you hear legislations coming out after an incident like this, you think, okay, it's going to be, you know, overwhelming changes.

But some of this just seems really common sense to me.

And I'm sort of surprised that it wasn't law before.

>>Interesting.

>>Really important note on that is just there is no national regulation of amusement rides at state by state.

And actually Florida even now is considered among several ride safety experts.

I've spoken with one of the safer states, but that shouldn't necessarily make you feel comfortable.

There's more that needs to be done here.

Yeah, that's that's what I've learned reporting on this.

>>One of the really interesting parts of this I found was the public records part of it.

There's a there's another effort to sort of make the investigations into this kind of incident less public.

And it's interesting to me because we talked about public records recently and the increasing numbers of areas of state government that are becoming exempt from those public records laws.

What is that effort and why is it being pursued?

>>Yes, it's a piece of companion legislation that would take effect along with the main ride safety improvement legislation and the idea behind it.

I spoke with Senator Geraldine Thompson, who's behind the bill, and she says that it's just about not making early assumptions about culpability or liability until the investigation is complete.

But I also interviewed a media law expert who said that usually these types of public records exemptions make a lot more sense in criminal investigations, which really the Agriculture Department's investigation is not.

It was it's civil.

They don't have the authority to impose criminal charges.

So, you know, it makes sense if it's a police investigation and there's evidence that only the perpetrator would know.

They don't want that evidence getting out.

So then other people could, you know, they won't be able to tell who the suspect is.

But in a case like this where it's, you know, safety of rides and perhaps other rides in the country might want to know what's going on with this ride so we can make sure our rides are safe.

The public want to know what happened here so that we can be safe.

And a lot of the changes proposed in the safety law came out of, you know, the very intense public attention to this case and how transparent the Agriculture Department was with its findings as they went on.

So it's very interesting.

>>It's a really interesting story.

And I appreciate your reporting on it for sure.

You can find a link to the Tyree Samson act that's making its way through the legislature on our website.

wucf.org/newsnight.

Finally tonight, more history this week for the space program as the crew for Artemis II was announced, the mission will fly four astronauts around the moon for the first time since the Apollo program.

The crew includes the first woman and first person of color to fly a lunar mission.

>>This is a big day.

We have a lot to celebrate, and it's so much more than the four names that have been announced.

We need to celebrate this moment in human history because Artemis II is more than a mission to the moon and back.

It's more than a mission that has to happen before we send people to the surface of the moon.

It is the next step on the journey that gets humanity to Mars.

I pray that God will bless this mission, but I also pray that we can continue to serve as a source of inspiration for cooperation and peace, not just between nations, but in our own nation.

Thank you and God bless us all.

>>Fascinating times for the Space Coast, for sure.

But that is all the time we have for this week.

My thanks to Erik Sandoval, WKMG News 6.

Thanks for coming in, Erik and Molly Duerig from Spectrum News 13.

And we'll see you next Friday night at 8:30 here on WUCF from all of us here at NewsNight, take care and have a great week.