HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES STAFF FINAL BILL ANALYSIS
BILL #: CS/HB 1617 Immigration
SPONSOR(S): Commerce Committee, Michael and others
TIED BILLS: IDEN./SIM. BILLS: CS/CS/SB 1718
FINAL HOUSE FLOOR ACTION: 83 Y’s 36 N’s GOVERNOR’S ACTION: Approved
SUMMARY ANALYSIS
CS/HB 1617 passed the House on May 2, 2023, as CS/CS/SB 1718.
Florida law requires state and local law enforcement entities to cooperate and assist the federal government in
the enforcement of federal immigration laws, provides criminal penalties for human smuggling into the state,
and provides employment verification requirements for public and private employers.
The bill, in part:
 Beginning July 1, 2023, requires private employers, with 25 or more employees, to use E-Verify for new
employees.
 Expands violations and penalties related to human smuggling when smuggling a minor, more than five
people, or when a defendant has a prior conviction for human smuggling, and allows prosecution of
human smuggling under the Florida Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) Act.
 Prohibits a county or municipality from providing funds to issue community ID cards for individuals who
are not lawfully in the country.
 Invalidates driver’s licenses that are exclusively issued by another state to undocumented immigrants,
and requires the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV) to issue citations and
maintain a list of out of state classes of driver licenses that are invalid.
 Removes the authority for certain unauthorized immigrants to be admitted to the Florida Bar, effective
November 1, 2028.
 Requires persons who are in the custody of a law enforcement agency and subject to an immigration
detainer to submit DNA to the statewide DNA database.
 Requires hospitals that accept Medicaid to collect immigration status data related to admissions and
emergency room visits and report to the Agency of Health Care Administration (AHCA).
 For the 2023-2024 fiscal year, provides a $12 million nonrecurring appropriation to the Division of
Emergency Management for the Unauthorized Alien Transport Program.
The bill has a negative fiscal impact on state and local government, and the private sector.
The bill was approved by the Governor on May 10, 2023, ch. 2023-40, L.O.F., and will become effective on
July 1, 2023, except as otherwise expressly provided.
This document does not reflect the intent or official position of the bill sponsor or House of Representatives.
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 I. SUBSTANTIVE INFORMATION
A. EFFECT OF CHANGES:
Current Situation
Immigration Laws
The Federal Government establishes and enforces immigration laws. The federal Immigration and
Nationality Act (INA) contains many of the most important provisions of immigration law. 1
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE),
Enforcement and Removal Operations, is responsible for enforcing the immigration laws and
identifying, apprehending, and removing aliens who are a risk to national security or public safety, who
are in the country illegally, or who undermine the integrity of the country’s immigration laws or border
control efforts.2
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (Border Patrol) is the federal law enforcement agency responsible
for securing the nation’s borders and facilitating international travel and trade. The Border Patrol’s top
priority is to keep terrorists and their weapons from entering the United States.
In 2020, The Border Patrol had 646,822 enforcement actions. In 2021, that total increased to over 1.9
million actions, an increase of over 200 percent. The Border Patrol’s total enforcement actions in 2022
was about 2.8 million, another 41 percent increase, and to date for 2023, the total is already over 1
million.
These statistics include individuals “encountered at ports of entry who are seeking lawful admission into
the United States but are determined to be inadmissible, individuals presenting themselves to seek
humanitarian protection under our laws, and individuals who withdraw an application for admission and
return to their countries of origin within a short timeframe.” The total also includes encounters that led to
apprehensions or expulsions, including individuals who were physically controlled or temporarily
detained due to being unlawfully present in the United States. 3
In addition to the dramatic increase in border encounters, the recidivism rate has also increased.
According to the Border Patrol webpage, “recidivism refers to percentage of individuals apprehended
more than one time by the Border Patrol within a fiscal year.” In 2019, the rate was only 7 percent.
However, that climbed to an increase of 26 percent in 2020 and 27 percent in 2021. 4
Encounters with criminal noncitizens in 2020 were 9,447, in 2021 were 17,330, in 2022 were 29,021,
and so far in 2023 are 11,785. “Criminal noncitizens refers to noncitizens who have been convicted of
crime, whether in the United States or abroad, so long as the conviction is for conduct which is deemed
criminal by the United States.”5
Governor’s Executive Orders on Immigration
1 8 U.S.C. §§ -1401 Suppl. 2 1964.
2 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Enforcement and Removal Operations, Mission, https://www.ice.gov/ero (last visited
Mar. 21, 2023).
3 U.S. Customs and Border Protection, CBP Enforcement Statistics Fiscal Year 2023, https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/cbp-
enforcement-statistics (last visited Mar. 21, 2023).
4 Id.
5 Id.
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 The Governor has issued two Executive Orders attempting to address the enforcement of immigration
laws and the immigration crisis the state has on its borders.6
On September 28, 2021, the Governor issued Executive Order No. 21-223, Biden Border Crisis.
Finding that the detrimental effects of an unsecured southwest border of the United States would
reverberate beyond border states, including increased crime, such as drug trafficking and human
trafficking and smuggling, diminished economic opportunities for American workers, and stresses on
education and healthcare systems. The order prohibited state agencies from assisting with the
transport of aliens apprehended at the southwest border into Florida, and required state agencies to
use the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program to confirm the eligibility
of persons before providing any funds, resources, or other benefits.
Specifically, the executive order:
 Directs the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) and the Florida Highway Patrol
(FHP) to determine on an ongoing basis the number and identities of all illegal aliens 7 whom the
DHS, as well as any other federal departments or agencies, federal contractors, or affiliated
non-governmental organizations, transport to Florida and to detain any aircraft, bus, or other
vehicle used to transport illegal aliens to the state in the commission of a state offense,
including state laws against human trafficking.
 Requests state attorneys and statewide prosecutor to report monthly to the Governor’s Office
and the FDLE on information related to illegal aliens and crimes, which FDLE was to make
available on its website.
 Directs the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA), in coordination with the Department
of Children and Families (DCF), the Department of Health (DOH), and county health
departments, to use all lawful means to determine the amount of state and local funds spent on
health care, including emergency care, for illegal aliens each fiscal year. AHCA was also
directed to require managed care plans and hospitals to report any Medicaid or other
governmental expenditures incurred for illegal aliens for each fiscal year beginning in 2021.
Such information was to be made available to the Governor’s Office and posted on the websites
for AHCA and DOH.
 Directs DCF to determine the amount and purpose of state funds expended by the department
on illegal aliens for each fiscal year. Such information was to be made available to the
Governor’s Office and posted on the website for the department. The department was also
directed to review resettlement of unaccompanied alien children8 in Florida and make
determinations on resettlement under state laws; to the extent that such resettlement did not
constitute “evidence of need” under Florida law, the department was directed to not grant or
renew licenses to family foster homes, residential child-caring agencies, or child-placing
agencies that applied to house unaccompanied minors and to prohibit these entities from
accepting additional children if they already housed unaccompanied alien children. These
entities were also required, as a part of licensure, to conduct in-person welfare checks on these
children and report to the department, if the department determined that such checks were
permitted by state law.
 Directs the FDLE, in consultation with the Attorney General, to conduct regular audits of
businesses in Florida to ensure that businesses were complying with state law to verify the
employment eligibility of new employees. The department was ordered to prioritize audits of
publicly traded corporations or companies with more than 200 employees that operate in
sectors of the economy known for employing illegal aliens. If any violation was found, the
6 See State of Florida, Office of the Governor, Executive Order No. 21-223, September 28, 2021, https://www.flgov.com/wp-
content/uploads/2021/09/EO_21-223.pdf (last visited Mar. 21, 2023), and Executive Order No. 23-03, January 6, 2023,
https://www.flgov.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/EO-23-03.pdf (last visited Mar. 21, 2023).
7 “Illegal Aliens” are defined in section 11 of the order to have the same meaning as provided in 8 U.S.C. s. 1101(a)(3); excep t that the
order specified that lawful immigration status does not include parole under 8 U.S.C. s. 1182(d)(5).
8 Defined in the order to have the same meaning as under 6 U.S.C. s. 279(g)(2).
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 department was to notify the Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) to take appropriate
action under state law.
 Requires any executive agency to report any evidence found of a crime perpetuated by an
illegal alien to the FDLE; and to take all appropriate action under state law, including the
imposition of fines or revocation of licenses, of any violation of law by a private contractor or
non-governmental organization involved in the resettlement of illegal aliens.9
On January 6, 2023, the Governor issued Executive Order No. 23-03, Emergency Management –
Illegal Migration. Based on findings of unprecedented interdictions, attempts of entry, and border patrol
encounters, the Governor designated the migration of unauthorized aliens to Florida as likely to
constitute a major disaster and designated the director of the Division of Emergency Management as
the state coordinating officer for the disaster with direction to execute response, recovery, and
mitigation plans necessary to cope with the emergency. The order also activates the Florida National
Guard, as needed, to assist with the efforts. The order waives contracting policies and requirements,
allows for expenditure of state funds through the Emergency Preparedness and Response Fund, and
authorizes medical professionals, social workers, and counselors with good and valid licenses issued
by other states to provide humanitarian aid services. 10
Federal Immigration Law
The federal government has broad power over immigration and alien status. 11 This power is enforced
through an extensive set of rules governing alien admission, removal, and conditions for continued
presence within the United States, including the INA. 12 While the federal government’s authority over
immigration is well established, the United States Supreme Court has recognized that not “every state
enactment which in any way deals with aliens is a regulation of immigration and thus per se preempted”
by the federal government.13
Human Smuggling
It is estimated that there are 3 million illegal entries into the United States each year, over and above
the amount of encounters that the Border Patrol has with border-crossers. Full-time professional
criminals are facilitating the smuggling of immigrants across the border. Human smuggling is estimated
to generate over $6.75 billion a year.14
Federal law governs whether a person is legally authorized to enter or remain in this country and
provides criminal penalties for illegally transporting a person into the country. Specifically, the law
prohibits a person from:15
 Knowing that a person is an alien, bringing or attempting to bring to the United States in any
manner whatsoever such person at a place other than a designated port of entry or place other
than as designated by the Commissioner of Immigration and Naturalization, regardless of
whether such alien has received prior official authorization to come to, enter, or reside in the
United States and regardless of any future official action which may be taken with respect to
such alien.
 Knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact than an alien has come to, entered, or remains in
the United States in violation of law, conceals, harbors, or shields from detection, or attempts to
9 State of Florida, Office of the Governor, Executive Order No. 21-223, September 28, 2021, https://www.flgov.com/wp-
content/uploads/2021/09/EO_21-223.pdf (last visited Mar. 21, 2023)
10 State of Florida, Office of the Governor, Executive Order No. 23-03, January 6, 2023, https://www.flgov.com/wp-
content/uploads/2023/01/EO-23-03.pdf (last visited Mar. 21, 2023).
11 Arizona v. United States, 567 U.S. 387 (2012).
12 8 U.S.C. s. 1108, et seq.
13 De Canas v. Bica, 424 U.S. 351, 355 (1976).
14 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Transnational Organized Crime: Let’s put them out of business,
https://www.unodc.org/toc/en/crimes/migrant-smuggling.html (last visited Mar. 21, 2023).
15 8 U.S.C. s. 1324(a).
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 conceal, harbor, or shield from detection, such alien in any place, including any building or any
means of transportation.
 Encourages or induces an alien to come to, enter, or reside in the United States, knowing or in
reckless disregard of the fact that such coming to, entry, or residence is or will be in violation of
law.
 Engages in any conspiracy to commit any of the preceding acts or aids or abets the commission
of any of the preceding acts.
Before 2009, Florida did not specifically provide criminal penalties for transporting a person into the
state who is illegally entering or remaining in the United States. In 2009, the Florida Legislature created
criminal penalties for human smuggling.16 Current law makes it a third degree felony17 for a person to
transport an individual into this state, when the person, who is doing the transporting, knows or should
know that the person he or she is transporting is illegally entering the United States from another
country.18
A person who violates the prohibition against concealing, harboring, or shielding an alien is generally
subject to up to five years imprisonment, but may punishment can be increased as follows:
 Up to 10 years imprisonment if the violation was done for the purpose of commercial advantage
or private financial gain.
 Up to 20 years imprisonment if the violation causes seriously bodily injury to, or places in
jeopardy, the life of any person.
 Death or life imprisonment if a violation results in the death of any person. 19
However, the federal law provides an exception to the offense of concealing, harboring, or shielding an
alien which allows a religious organization to invite, call, allow, or enable an alien who is present in the
United States to perform the vocation of minister or missionary as a volunteer who is not compensated
as an employee, notwithstanding the provision of room, board, travel, medical assistance, and other
basic living expenses, provided he or she has been a member of the denomination for at least one
year.20
Federal law also requires the Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Attorney General
and the Secretary of State, to develop and implement an outreach program to educate the public about
the penalties for unlawfully bringing in and harboring aliens. 21
Statewide Grand Jury Recommendations – Human Smuggling
In June of 2022, a Statewide Grand Jury was impaneled a