By Suzanne Gamboa -
NBC News
Carolina Wassmer, the Florida director of a group focused on building Latino political power, said in recent days that her organization would be devastated if a court allows the state to bar non-U.S. citizens across the country from participating in efforts to register voters in Florida.
The restriction, which is part of Florida's new SB7050 law, was blocked by a federal court with an emergency injunction last July.
But the state is appealing the ruling and oral arguments were expected before the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta.
Many people who have lived in Florida for years are legal permanent residents.
But under current law, those who are not yet citizens can participate in civic activities, such as
helping to register voters or supporting a campaign,
as part of their path to learning about the U.S. government.
People go to a voting center in Tampa, Florida, in November 2022.Octavio Jones / Getty Images file
Wassmer said the court order has allowed Poder Latinx to continue using its experienced staff in the field, who typically do the work year after year.
Even if they can't vote, “because they know the importance of voting.”
[Biden holds fundraising events in Florida, very close to Trump's residence]
Legal permanent residents generally must wait five years before they are eligible to become U.S. citizens.
But the provision of the law, if enforced, provides for
a fine of $50,000 per person
for any noncitizen found to have collected or manipulated voter registration forms.
If the court order is overturned, “we would have to completely restructure and this would be devastating to our program,” said Wassmer, director of Poder Latinx in Florida.
“We would have to completely restructure and this would be devastating for our program”
Carolina Wassmer director, Poder Latinx Florida
Mark Ard, a spokesman for the Florida Secretary of State's office, said the office does not comment on pending litigation.
NBC News, sister network of Noticias Telemundo, also contacted the state attorney general's office.
The court order blocking the restriction on voter registration was granted as part of a lawsuit filed by the Hispanic Federation, a national Latino advocacy group.
He is also challenging other parts of the Republican-sponsored law along with other groups.
The case is scheduled to go to trial in April.
[Latinos represent half of new eligible voters]
Frankie Miranda, president and CEO of the Hispanic Federation, said community organizations face more difficulty registering people to vote under the new provision.
He said minorities, like the Hispanic and Black communities in particular, are four to five times more likely to register through nonpartisan groups than their white counterparts.
Voter registration numbers by third-party groups have declined since 2021
, when Florida began enacting voter restriction laws, said Frederick Vélez, spokesman for the Hispanic Federation.
“Florida has been passing these voter suppression bills every year, undermining our rights and the way that we can motivate voters to get out and vote and that we can inform them to register them so they can vote,” Velez said.
[Truth or myth: are Latinos key in the elections?]
State officials have previously said the law is aimed at cleaning up the registration process, actually targeting groups that regularly turn in voter registration forms late, and preventing noncitizens from voting.
Miranda clarified that his group does not question the state's authority to regulate third-party voter registration organizations.
“The problem here is that they have crafted a law that has no connection to the problem they have identified
,” he said, echoing a conclusion of the federal judge who issued the injunction.
In issuing the court order, Judge Mark Walker said that while Florida had found a problem regarding the timely submission of voter registration applications, it had not identified “any connection between the problem and the state's proposed solution.” .
The judge said that at the hearing, the state “acknowledged a dearth of evidence connecting noncitizens to late-filed voter registration applications.”