By Ana Rodriguez Soto - The Archdiocese of Miami
MIAMI | With or without state licenses, shelters that care for unaccompanied migrant children can continue to do that work without fear of further punishment from the state of Florida.
That’s what the federal government told those facilities in a letter sent March 9, 2022 — after the state of Florida failed to reply to a previous letter from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. On Feb. 22, HHS gave Florida a March 4 deadline to acknowledge that, because of the Supremacy Clause, “Florida will not bring enforcement actions against HHS grantees beyond possible suspension or revocation of a state license held by a grantee.”
The Supremacy Clause — Article IV, Paragraph 2 of the U.S. Constitution — states that the federal constitution, and federal laws, generally take precedence over state laws and constitutions.
Florida acknowledged as much in a Jan. 26 letter where it informed the federal government of its plans to revoke the licenses. Although the letter blasted the federal government for policies “that incentivize the trafficking (of unaccompanied children),” it also acknowledged that “the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution limits a state’s ability to prohibit through enforcement action activities of federal officers or agents, including federal contractors, that are expressly authorized by federal law.”
The issue arose because of an executive order signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in December. The order instructed the Department of Children and Families not to renew the licenses of “any family foster home, residential child-caring agency, or child-placing agency that applies to house unaccompanied alien children in Florida.” DCF enacted a rule to that effect in February.
But federal law requires the government to ensure the “safe placement” of minors who cross the border without a parent or guardian. Once they are processed by immigration authorities, they are transferred to the custody of HHS, specifically its Office of Refugee Resettlement. ORR then contracts with state-licensed facilities to house, feed, clothe, educate and care for those children while working to place them with relatives already living in the U.S.
All the funding for the unaccompanied minors program comes from the federal government.
One of those facilities for unaccompanied minors is operated by Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Miami. Its Msgr. Bryan O. Walsh Children’s Village has been doing that work for over 60 years, making it the oldest such shelter in the state, and probably in the country. Florida has 15 others, all run by faith-based organizations.
Fearing they would be forced to close, they have appealed to the governor to rescind his order, to no avail.
The March 9 letter from HHS to the Florida facilities states: “We want to be clear that it is our view that under the Supremacy Clause, the State cannot lawfully take civil or criminal actions to penalize grantees for their activities conducted under their cooperative agreements with ORR. Florida has not stated that it agrees, and we cannot assure you of what actions Florida may or may not take, but our view is that Florida cannot lawfully take retaliatory actions beyond the termination and non-issuance of licenses.”
Peter Routsis-Arroyo, CEO of Catholic Charities, called the news “very promising barring anything else that may come from the state. We will stay vigilant.”
