TAMPA, Fla. — In a few months, one of the immigration bills signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis will become law. House Bill 1451 prohibits counties and municipalities from accepting certain ID cards or documents — that are issued to individuals who are not lawfully present in the U.S. — as a form of identification.

What You Need To Know

  • HB1451 was signed on March 15 in Polk County
  • The bill prohibits counties and municipalities from accepting certain ID cards or documents that are issued to individuals who are not lawfully present in the U.S. as form of identification
  • Danielle Hernandez an immigration lawyer and has turned to making videos for the community to educate about this bill

Since the signing of this bill, one immigration law firm says they’re taking steps to bring education about the bill.

Danielle Hernandez is getting ahead. She’s preparing videos to educate the community on recent immigration bills that were passed.

She’s the owner of the DVH Law Group. As an immigration lawyer, she helps clients who may have questions about their pending cases. Questions like, “What will happen to my legal case? Can I continue working here in the state?”

“This is just going to create more fear among my clients,” she said.

Hernandez says the uncertainty is creating an environment where people don’t feel safe.

Those in favor of HB 1451 say it’s helping tackle illegal immigration to the state.

Jake Hoffman is the Executive Director for the Tampa Bay Young Republicans. He said, “We should not be issuing driver’s licenses to people who are not citizens of this country. That’s scurrying around the entire process that we have for visas and work visas.”

As a group, they’ve helped lobby in Tallahassee to keep bills like these moving through. He believes the recent signing of this bill is a step in the right direction.

“If this wasn’t a crisis around the rest of the country, then the state of Florida wouldn’t have to do this. But this is a federal issue that is not being taken care of and purposely ignored.”

For Hernandez, she believes this bill is taking a step back and not helping immigrants who come to this country for a better life.

As for the documentations immigrants bring with them, she said, “It’s further alienating anyone who comes in here, and mind you, these are people that could be in a legal process. It is legal to come into the U.S. and seek asylum, but sometimes you don’t have your documents because they are taken from you at the border.”

She’s hoping by educating the community, they’ll understand what the bills mean and seek help.

DVH Law Group says they’ll be hosting town hall meetings to further educate the community on these immigration bills.