Immigration in the spotlight again in Tallahassee

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The hot-button issue of immigration is in the spotlight again at the state Capitol.

Students from around Florida gathered in a Senate hearing on immigration today. The Senate has been holding hearings to hear testimony on immigration legislation for Florida.

Several bills have been filed to crack down on illegal immigrants in the state. One proposal from Senator Mike Bennett would allow police to investigate the immigration status of people during a lawful stop, detention or arrest.

Students with the group “Advocates for Immigrant and Refugee Rights” believe that authority would lead to racial profiling.

“You’re going to have a persecution of immigrants, people of color, minority communities, no matter if you say this is a legal stop or if you’re doing a criminal investigation," said Andrea Ortega. "At some point, law enforcement has the discretion to essentially decide if they think a person isn’t documented and to go forward with inquiries against that.”

Senator Anitere Flores of Miami, who is the chairwoman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, says she wants to make sure that any immigration reform bill would not allow racial profiling in Florida.

“I’m sensitive to the fact that just because you ban racial profiling in words doesn’t mean that you actually ban it in actions so we’ll see how that progresses.”

It’s estimated there are currently about 700,000 illegal immigrants in Florida. That represents about four percent of the population.