Day 13 📍 + Immigration Update
Celebrating Black History Month by exploring hidden Black history in Florida's Capital City.
February 13, 2025
Good morning!
If you haven’t heard, Florida’s lawmakers are back in Tallahassee, again, for another Special Session. Republican Legislature leaders Representative Perez and Senator Albritton have put the fighting gloves aside to work with Gov. DeSantis on a slate of bills to support Trump’s mass immigrant deportation plans.
The bills will probably be heard on the House or Senate floor later today, where they’re expected to pass due to the Republicans’ supermajority. From there, the bills will hit Gov. DeSantis’ desk, who is expected to sign them into law.
As a reminder, the bills will:
End in-state tuition for undocumented students;
Establish the new State Board of Immigration Enforcement, made up of the governor, Agriculture commissioner, attorney general and chief financial officer;
Offers extra funds to local police departments supporting ICE deportation activities, and;
Stiffens penalties on crimes committed by undocumented immigrants, including requiring the death penalty if they are convicted of murder or rape.
If any of you or your loved ones are impacted by these impending immigration plans, please prepare and learn your rights.
⬇️ Black History Month Scavenger Hunt
📍Today’s Clue: A place where two became one, find the building full of people who like to tinker for fun.
📍 Day 12: The Plantation Cemetery at Betton Hills
🕵🏽 Clue: Sandwiched between two houses on a hill, find the cemetery on a road perpendicular to Thomasville.
The Plantation Cemetery at Betton Hills was the main burial ground for slaves from the Betton Plantation. Many graves are unmarked, but one of them belongs to Henry Watson.
Watson was owned by Guy Winthrop, the developer of Betton Hills, until emancipation. He became one of the first Black landowners in Tallahassee after the Civil War. Watson owned land in "The Bottom", the low-lying area where the Whole Foods on Thomasville Road is today. The area wasn’t desirable then, but it is now considered one of the most valuable properties in Tallahassee.
See you on Saturday,
Shelby