The bill, SB1718, proposed by Florida Sen. Blaise Ingoglia of Spring Hill, has sparked a backlash from evangelical Latinos and other religious groups that host and do pastoral work for immigrants.

The law includes a provision that makes it a third-degree felony for anyone who "transports to or within this state an individual that the person knows, or reasonably ought to know, has entered the United States in violation of the law and has not been inspected by the Federal Government since his or her illegal entry," according to NBC News.

According to the publication, the legislation is part of a crackdown on immigrants by Gov. Ron DeSantis and Republicans in the state. According to Gabriel Salguero, pastor of The Gathering Place, an Assembly of God congregation in Orlando, and founder of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition, told NBC that the bill “will criminalize the church’s work. […] We have schools, we have Sunday school, we have church vans that bring them to worship, we have soup kitchens that we sometimes drive people to who are undocumented because they need food. Sometimes we take them to their lawyer”.

The legislation was voted on in the Florida Senate Rules Committee in mid-March on a 15-5 party line vote.

Two Republican Latino senators on the committee, Sen. Ileana Garcia of Miami and Sen. Ana Maria Rodriguez of Doral, supported the bill. A Latino Democrat, Sen. Victor Torres of Kissimmee, voted against it. The measure awaits a full Senate vote and is pending on the House side, according to NBC.

Republicans Ileana Garcia and Ana Maria Rodriguez emphasized the problem of human trafficking in their press releases and said the bill would help solve the problem. Both used the same bulleted list to highlight the provisions of the bill. But neither included the provision of transportation that drew opposition from religious groups.

Many social services are not available to people without legal status, although children can attend public schools and some clinics offer medical care regardless of citizenship or legal status. Regardless of the illegal entry of Latinos into the country, it is established that 42% or more of the immigrants in the country who are illegal, entered with a legal visa and remained beyond the due date.

“Matthew Soerens, vice president of policy and advocacy at World Relief, a Christian humanitarian organization, said pastors know their congregants well enough to know who may have crossed borders unlawfully. If a church worker gives the person a ride, it could mean up to five years in prison and up to 15 years if the church staff member picks up a minor for a youth group gathering”, NBC noted.

Miami Herald columnist Fabiola Santiago criticized the recent legislation and the support of some Latino Republicans. Santiago was a Cuban fugitive who arrived in the United States as a child aboard the "Freedom Flights".  She called the bill "a slap in the face to our immigrant families, and Native Americans, who have welcomed immigrants into their lives."