a925: Hispanic, Haitian leaders urge Gov. Bush to change new driver license rules (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: JD Lemieux <lxhaiti@yahoo.com>


Hispanic, Haitian leaders urge Gov. Bush to change new
driver license rules

Tuesday, February 19, 2002

By MIREIDY FERNANDEZ, mmfernandez@naplesnews.com



Hispanic and Haitian leaders from Southwest Florida
and around the state gathered in Miami on Monday to
urge Gov. Jeb Bush to rescind new procedures in the
way Florida driver licenses are issued.

Toting flags and signs, about 50 leaders representing
various nationalities held a news conference to blast
the governor's tougher stance to crack down on illegal
aliens.



Howard Simon, executive director of the American Civil
Liberties Union of Florida, and a group of Haitian and
Hispanic leaders from across Florida criticize Gov.
Jeb Bush's position on the new restrictions placed on
the issuance of driver licenses. Participants asked
the governor to reconsider his stance at a press
conference held by the Florida Immigrant Advocacy
Center at Los Ranchos of Bayside restaurant Monday in
Miami. Gary Coronado /Staff

At issue is a recent state executive order that makes
it more difficult for undocumented workers or any
illegal person to obtain a Florida driver license.
Barring undocumented workers from obtaining a driver
license will lead to an economic trickle-down to the
service industry, participants said.

"The driver license situation is anti-Hispanic and
it's nothing but a witch hunt against the illegal
immigrants, especially the Mexican people," said Alex
Chavez, regional director for the U.S. Hispanic
Chamber of Commerce and a board member of Southwest
Florida Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

"Now the state of Florida is doing the job for federal
authorities. This will have multiple impacts on
business and affect agriculture, insurance agencies
and the whole community," said Chavez, who is Cuban
and owns Amigo Insurance in Sarasota.

Chavez said his business has suffered drastically as a
result of the new rules, noting that business at his
insurance agency was way down because fewer Hispanics
are able to obtain a driver license.

Participants labeled themselves "Florida Immigrant
Coalition" at the news conference, which was organized
by the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center, a nonprofit
agency that provides free legal services for
immigrants.

The change, which went into effect Dec. 13, was
implemented by the Florida Department of Highway
Safety and Motor Vehicles in the wake of the Sept. 11
terrorist attacks after Bush appointed a task force to
look into ways to protect national security. People
who come to the United States on a student visa for
six months, for example, can only have a valid driver
license for that period. Since the attacks, U.S.
government officials have said that some of the 19
terrorists who hijacked four commercial planes were in
the country with expired visas yet had valid driver
licenses.



Luckner Millen, 53, of Apopka, from left, representing
Farmworkers Association with offices in Immokalee;
Marleine Bastien, executive director of Haitian Woman
of Miami; and Marlon Gonzalez, of Guatemalan Unity
Information Association of Miami, voice their opinion
at the press conference. Gary Coronado /Staff

Bush, who spent part of Monday in Southwest Florida
visiting an after-school program in Fort Myers and
attending a private reception in Naples, could not be
reached for comment, but a spokeswoman defended the
new procedures.

"In the wake of the attacks, it's not acceptable to
hand over documentation to people who are here
illegally," said Lisa Gates, a spokeswoman for Bush in
Tallahassee. "In the new reality that we live in, to
ask somebody to prove legal residency isn't too much
to ask. This is an appropriate action and it's not a
lot to ask immigrants to do."

Denouncing the state's restrictions, which severely
tighten the issuance of driver licenses, leaders from
at least 15 organizations spoke out against the new
regulations for obtaining a valid Florida ID.

"I work with a community that's mainly immigrant and
access to a driver license for these people is very
important," said Luckner Millien, who represented the
Farmworkers Association, a farmworker education group
that participated in the news conference. "The people
need the access of driving and without a license,
people's lives would stop, their livelihood would
stop."

Millien, 53, is a naturalized U.S. citizen who was
born in Haiti. He said state lawmakers, county leaders
and law enforcement need to understand that there will
be a definite impact on the American economy if
minorities can't go to work because their driving
privileges are taken away.

"If people can't drive, it's a big problem," he said.
"America is (reliant) on immigrants and needs
immigrants for all the work they do. They all serve a
purpose."

Francisca Loredo, a former tomato picker in Homestead,
the rural and agriculture district of Miami-Dade,
talked about her years of working in the fields
performing what she called "unimaginable jobs."

"These people working in the fields are not terrorists
and a lot of illegal immigrants here are willing to
bear arms and fight for this country because they love
the United States," said Loredo, 35, a Mexican
national. "All they want to do is work and protect
America. They need to be given an opportunity to do
so."

Some charged Bush had turned his back on Hispanics and
other minorities, deserting them and pandering to the
majority of Floridians who are still shaken by the
recent terrorist attacks.

"The driver license issue is just one example of the
collateral damage of Sept. 11," said Cheryl Little, of
the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center. "We're giving
people a false sense of security. These restrictions
won't make people safe. Puerto Ricans and other U.S.
citizens are being asked to provide more documentation
and are also being targeted, despite the fact that
they're U.S. citizens."

Howard Simon, executive director of the American Civil
Liberties Union of Florida, said it was unjust to be
suspicious of people who are foreign-born.

"We cannot allow our concerns about terrorism to turn
this into a war against 20 million Hispanics in the
country," Simon said.

One public figure who also came under fire after the
press conference Monday was Collier County Sheriff Don
Hunter. ACLU officials contend the sheriff would be
violating civil liberties if he were granted the
federal powers he's seeking. Hunter has proposed
gaining access to a U.S. Immigration and
Naturalization Service database with the names of
illegal immigrants. It would take the approval of the
governor, President Bush and the head of INS in order
for such proposal to pass.

"A number of people are scared in terms of what the
sheriff's intent is with regard to harassing
minorities," said Randall Marshall, legal director for
ACLU. "It's clear the Hispanic community is very
skeptical about what the sheriff is doing in that
Hispanics are very much intimidated because for a long
time Hispanics have been discriminated against."

Marshall, who is based in Miami, said he had received
a number of calls from concerned Southwest Florida
undocumented workers who fear they'll be arrested and
deported if Hunter gets his way.

"It's a sense of desperation and a sense that this is
going to become another way for the sheriff's
department to harass racial minorities," Marshall
said. "The concerns are extremely legitimate and these
individuals should be concerned."

Hunter's position with regard to his plans to access
the INS database and chase after criminals who are in
the country illegally hasn't changed, said Tina
Osceola, a sheriff's spokeswoman.

"We're only trying to rule out illegal aliens — not
just Hispanics," she said. "They're illegal aliens by
virtue of committing a criminal act not by virtue of
being Hispanic."

The Coalition of Immokalee Workers, which organized a
Jan. 29 protest by Hispanics who oppose Hunter's
proposal, is planning future demonstrations in an
effort to prevent the sheriff from getting the powers
he seeks, said Lucas Benitez, a leader with the
coalition.

"To organize a work stoppage takes time and we need
time although people are really indignant about what
the sheriff is trying to do," he said. "Officers are
supposed to be there to protect us all but now
everybody feels they have no one there to protect
them."

Hunter has agreed to a live phone interview Wednesday
morning with Radio Fiesta WAFZ 1490 AM, a
Spanish-language radio station in Immokalee. The
sheriff will answer questions about his proposal and
address concerns from the community, Osceola said.

Copyright © 2002 Naples Daily News.


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