Florida’s border in ‘crisis,’ culture war battles in court, and Dems seek new leader

It’s Monday, Jan. 16, the day we commemorate the life of Martin Luther King, the American clergyman and activist whose efforts to advance civil rights using nonviolent methods helped to usher in the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

As immigration remains a flash point in American politics, there is one important provision of the Civil Rights Act to remember: The landmark Immigration and Nationality Services Act of 1965. The act was a significant departure from the prevailing country quotas that favored immigration from white European countries and it opened the door to immigrants from non-European countries, primarily Asia and Latin America.

WHAT WE’RE WATCHING

Nearly 60 years later, migrants attempting to cross into the country at the U.S.-Mexico border remain at levels not seen in more than two decades, the Pew Research Center reports.

Florida’s version: But the surge in arrivals has not been limited to the southern land border. For the last two years, the numbers of migrants crossing the Florida Straits into the Keys have been the highest in two decades.

Rising school enrollment: That influx has created measurable impacts on Miami Dade County. Since the start of the 2022-23 school year, nearly 10,000 students from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela have enrolled in the county’s schools — about 2,500 more students than who arrived in the entire 2021-22 year, reflecting the surge of immigrants coming from those four countries over nearly six months.

Housing ‘crisis’: As more migrants arrive in Miami without a place to live, the leader of the Miami-Dade’s Homeless Trust, the independent agency that oversees the county’s homeless funding, said last week the agency won’t spend local dollars to provide emergency shelter beds for migrants.

Leaders of private nonprofits that focus on undocumented residents are scrambling to find places for newly arrived migrants, but it’s especially challenging in Miami’s rental market, one of the least affordable in the country.

‘Mass migration’: Meanwhile, maritime migration in the region has skyrocketed since the beginning of October. A month ago, Monroe County Sheriff Rick Ramsay complained that both the state and the and feds had offered no relief to what he called a “mass migration.”

Finally, changes: But a lot has changed in the last month, starting with the way the Biden administration handles new arrivals from Cuba. The policy has shifted from allowing those who crossed the ocean illegally to stay with a court date that could be years off, to a policy that expands parole to a limited number, while also threatening anyone who stays illegally with being sent back home. By last week, U.S. immigration authorities had already approved some of the applications by Cubans to the new parole program, a surprisingly swift turnaround.

State assists feds: And on Jan. 6, Gov. Ron DeSantis issued an executive order activating the Florida National Guard and tasking state agencies with helping to patrol the Keys and surrounding waters for incoming migrants. The emergency response is one of surveillance and not interdiction as state officials will work with federal Homeland Security officials “to increase coastal vigilance and provide improved situational awareness on migrant activities,’’ state emergency operations officials said in a statement last week.

Tensions continue: Ramsay, Monroe County’s sheriff, said last week that the Biden and DeSantis administrations’ moves appear to be making a difference. But neither side is playing nice. The White House issued a sharp rebuke of the governor’s handling of the migrants, saying “he treats them like pawns.”

LAWSUIT WATCH

Challenging releases: The tensions, however, are also playing out in the courts. Last week, a trial was held in the federal lawsuit filed in 2021 by Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody against President Joe Biden’s administration, alleging the federal government is breaking the law by releasing immigrants who cross the southern border rather than detaining them. The state accuses the feds of adopting a new, unwritten policy. The Biden administration disputes that claim, arguing that immigration officers release migrants on a case-by-case basis and that there are no new policies.

Judge won’t drop migrant lawsuit: DeSantis’ “relocation” flights to Martha’s Vineyard continue to draw legal fire. A Leon County Circuit Court judge on Friday refused to dismiss a lawsuit against the governor accusing him of illegally using the budget to create the new program instead of authorizing it through a separate law. Judge John C. Cooper set a Jan. 30 trial date in the case brought by Sen. Jason Pizzo, a Democrat who is suing in his capacity as a private citizen.

Challenging thought surveys: A lawsuit challenging the 2021 law requiring colleges and universities to survey students and staff about “intellectual freedom and viewpoint diversity” on campus also got underway last week. The plaintiffs, including the United Faculty of Florida union and individual teachers and students, argue the measure has a chilling effect on speech because there are no restrictions on how the survey data will be used.

Judge upholds diversity inquiry: The federal judge that blocked enforcement of the law that restricts how race-related concepts can be taught in higher education said last week that the governor’s budget chief can require schools to list their diversity programs. The governor’s office is requiring colleges and universities to “provide a comprehensive list of all staff, programs and campus activities related to diversity, equity and inclusion and critical race theory.” Plaintiffs wanted the inquiry stopped, saying it violates the preliminary injunction issued by federal Judge Mark Walker when he blocked the law, calling it “positively dystopian.”

Challenge revived against transgender law: A lawsuit challenging a 2021 Florida law barring transgender women and girls from playing on female scholastic sports teams has been revived. A federal judge reopened the case at the request of a Broward student who filed the lawsuit challenging the law. An appeals court recently upheld a St. John’s County school board policy that prevented a transgender male student from using boys’ bathrooms.

WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT

New College drama: New College of Florida has clung to its identity since its founding at the peak of the counterculture movement. But the public liberal arts school with fewer than 700 students now finds itself in the national spotlight, after DeSantis appointed six activists to the college’s board. Here is a look at their backgrounds.

New curriculum coming: One of the appointees, Christopher Rufo, an activist who spurred a national backlash against critical race theory and LGBTQ issues, announced in an interview in the New York Times last week that plans are afoot for a “top-down restructuring” and the design of “a new core curriculum from scratch.” He predicted the school would look “very different in the next 120 days.”

Christian school model: Some Republicans say the appointments are an opportunity for Florida to emulate Hillsdale College, a small, private Christian university in Michigan that has helped DeSantis shape education policy since 2019. New College, they say, could be “a Hillsdale of the South.”

Who are the new trustees? Rufo is just one of six activists appointed to the college’s board by DeSantis this month. Here is a look at their backgrounds.

Dem chair resigns: Florida Democratic Party Chairman Manny Diaz resigned effective immediately Monday evening in a widely distributed email that served as a broadside against those he blamed for the party’s fading relevance. He called the stunning losses in the November election the “nail in the coffin” and blamed a “systemic and deeply entrenched culture resistant to change” and a an organization “where individual agendas are more important than team.“

What’s in a name? The Miami Heat’s era in “the Arena” didn’t last long. Two days after announcing the former FTX Arena would be called just “the Arena” for now, Miami-Dade County on Friday announced another temporary name for the county-owned facility. The bayside home of the Heat will be called the “Miami-Dade Arena.”

Bolsonaro in Florida: Miami is getting the blame as the nerve center from which former right-wing Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro plotted the attack by his supporters on the South American nation’s main government buildings in the capital, Brasilia. The allegations, which emerged on social media, misfired. Bolsonaro was actually in Orlando.

Enjoy your day! Maybe go visit a National Park where there is free admission today.

Miami Herald Capitol Bureau Chief Mary Ellen Klas curates the Politics and Policy in the Sunshine State newsletter. We appreciate our readers, and if you have any ideas or suggestions, please drop me a note at meklas@miamiherald.com.

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