Miami Herald by Samantha Gross
March 25, 2019
TALLAHASSEE
Legislators have cut a secret deal, trading a set of bills that would require Florida businesses to check the immigration status of new hires via “e-Verify,” for bills to ban so-called “sanctuary cities,” which have been fast-tracked through committee stops.
The agriculture industry and a state senator from each party agreed behind the scenes last weekto block one proposal and advance the other, said Mike Fernandez, a billionaire healthcare magnate and prominent political booster in Miami with firsthand knowledge of the deal. He declined to disclose the identities of the lawmakers.
Under the agreement, Fernandez said, leaders agreed to fast-track the anti-sanctuary city bills — including SB 168 — through committee stops while e-Verify proposals would languish without a single hearing.
