Florida travel advisories have been issued by civil rights, LGBTQ groups and Rick Scott?

Civil rights, immigration and LGBTQ groups have recently issued travel advisories in Florida warning that many of the new laws passed in the state are harmful to minority communities. In response, Florida Senator Rick Scott fired back with a travel advisory of his own against socialists, communists and their enablers.

“Florida is openly hostile toward Socialists, Communists, and those that enable them,” Scott said in a press release. “Before traveling to Florida, please understand that the state of Florida devalues and marginalizes the contributions of, and the challenges faced by Socialists and others who work in the Biden Administration.”

Scott’s advisory came on the heels of NAACP’s travel advisory issued last week that warned Black Americans of new laws passed in Florida that were “undemocratic” and “hostile to Black Americans.”

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The civil rights group said that Florida has “engaged in an all-out attack on Black Americans, accurate Black history, voting rights, members of the LGBTQ+ community, immigrants, women’s reproductive rights, and free speech, while simultaneously embracing a culture of fear, bullying, and intimidation by public officials,” in the released advisory.

Similar Florida travel advisories have been issued by Equality Florida, the Florida Immigration Coalition, the Human Rights Campaign and the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC).

Here’s a look at each.

Equality Florida's travel advisory

On April 11, Equality Florida issued a travel advisory warning of the risks posed to anyone in the LGBTQ community considering traveling or moving to Florida.

"Today, Equality Florida took the extraordinary step of issuing a travel advisory, warning of the risks posed to the health, safety, and freedom of those considering short or long term travel, or relocation to the state," according to an Equality Florida press release.

In its advisory memo, the group cited the state’s “assaults" on medical and academic freedoms, businesses, arts and entertainment along with the “censorship and erasure” of the LGBTQ community and repealing gun safety laws as reasons prompting the move.

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Florida Immigration Coalition's travel advisory

The Florida Immigrant Coalition, a statewide immigrant rights coalition of 65 member organizations and over 100 allies, joined Equality Florida in issuing the warning after it says Florida has passed and is poised to pass legislation targeting immigrant communities.

League of United Latin American Citizens' Florida travel advisory

LULAC, the nation’s oldest and largest Latino civil rights organization, issued a press release on May 17 strongly denouncing the anti-immigration Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law, SB 1718.

“We do not doubt that if Abuelita or Tia is with us and we are profiled, DeSantis' enforcement regulations will treat us like criminals, transporting a dangerous person who only wanted to visit family or enjoy Disneyworld,” said LULAC President Domingo Garcia in the release.

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LULAC called Florida’s new immigration law anti-immigrant, anti-Christian and harmful to Florida’s economy. SB 1718 imposes tough penalties and restrictions that aimed to obstruct the flow of illegal immigration into the state.

Among other things, it strengthens employment requirements, bans local governments from contributing money to organizations creating identification cards for undocumented immigrants, bars driver’s licenses issued to non-citizens in other states from use in Florida and repeals a 2014 law that allowed undocumented immigrants to be admitted to practice law in Florida.

NAACP's Florida travel advisory

The NAACP Board of Directors issued a formal travel advisory for Florida on May 20.

“Florida is openly hostile toward African Americans, people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals,” the civil rights group said in a release. “Before traveling to Florida, please understand that the state of Florida devalues and marginalizes the contributions of, and the challenges faced by African Americans and other communities of color.”

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It added that these attacks include criminalizing protests, restricting the ability of educators to teach African-American history and engaging in a “war” against diversity and inclusion.

Five new laws were named in the release that target protests, corporate “wokeness” Critical Race Theory, allows Floridians to carry concealed weapons without a permit, bars funding for DEI programs in state universities and attempted to skirt Amendment 4, which Florida voters passed in 2018 that restored voting rights for some convicted felons.

The Human Rights Campaign's Florida travel advisory

The Human Rights Campaign released a press release on May 23 indicating that the group was joining Equality Florida’s updated travel advisory.

“In the wake of Florida’s most anti-LGBTQ legislative session in history, Equality Florida and the Human Rights Campaign have issued an updated travel advisory that details risks associated with relocation or travel to the state. In all, six anti-LGBTQ bills were passed and nearly all have been signed by Governor DeSantis,” the group said in its release.

While not a blanket recommendation nor a boycott, the group said the advisory is meant to outline the devastating impact Florida’s new laws will have on the LGBTQ community.

“Because of Ron DeSantis and his frenzied appeal to extremists, LGBTQ+ people in Florida are finding themselves in a state of emergency every single day. Since the day he took office, Governor DeSantis has weaponized his position to weave bigotry, hate, and discrimination into public law for his own political gain. We see it as our duty to join Equality Florida -- and LULAC and the NAACP -- to provide guidance to our community,” said Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson.

The updated travel advisory came after the NAACP and LULAC advisories.

Florida Sen. Rick Scott's warning about 'socialists'

On May 23, Scott fired back with a press release issuing a formal travel advisory for all socialists visiting Florida. In the release, Scott states that the advisory is a direct response to the Biden Administration’s attempts to “erase” capitalism and the system that brought “prosperity” to Florida and the U.S.

“Let me be clear — any attempts to spread the oppression and poverty that Socialism always brings will be rebuffed by the people of Florida,” Scott said. “Travelers should be aware that attempts to spread Socialism in north Florida will fail and be met with laughter and mockery.”

He added that the situation is “far more dangerous” for socialists in Central and South Florida as they “may encounter people from Cuba, Venezuela, and other parts of Central and South America and the Caribbean who have direct knowledge of, and experience with, the horrors of Socialism.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Rick Scott fires back at NAACP over Florida travel advisory