Florida state Sen. Travis Hutson, R-Elkton, wants to enhance penalties for crimes committed by,“aliens unlawfully present in the United States.”
![Sen. Travis Hutson, R-Elkton, is making another attempt to enhance criminal penalties, this time for, "aliens unlawfully present in the United States." The Florida Immigrant Coalition is calling the proposal unconstitutional.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/c04e52a/2147483647/strip/true/crop/150x197+0+0/resize/880x1156!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fmediad.publicbroadcasting.net%2Fp%2Fwfsu%2Ffiles%2Fstyles%2Fcard_280%2Fpublic%2F201612%2FHutson.jpg)
The bill died last year, but advocates are worried now that President-elect Donald Trump successfully waged an anti-immigration campaign. Florida Immigrant Coalition policy director Francesca Menes:
“Based on the recent election and who got elected, and a lot of the promises and commitments that he made, we expect that all of our communities, for the most part, are going to be under attack," she says.
A Senate committee chairman refused to hear Hutson’s bill last year. He has narrowed the bill’s scope, but Menez says it still would not withstand a constitutional challenge.
Rep. Dane Eagle, R-Cape Coral, is backing the bill in the Florida House of Representatives.
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