Florida sued over Cuba travel ban

Miami-Dade politician David Rivera recently sponsored a bill ("Florida Bill Cuts Cuba Student Travel") designed to virtually eliminate educational travel to Cuba, though the Republican representative claims it merely bans taxpayer-funded Cuba travel; the bill was signed into law in late May by Florida guv Jeb Bush. The ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union), joined by the Faculty Senate of FIU (Florida International University), has now filed a suit in a South Florida district court challenging the constitutionality of the "Travel to Terrorist States" act. Rivera's legislation bans use of private, state or federal funds for travel to Cuba and four other "terrorist" nations by students, professors or researchers affiliated with Florida schools.

"The primary effect of this legislation is to deny Americans information about other parts of the world," said Howard Simon, Executive Director for the ACLU of Florida, in a press release. “Crude censorship like this only serves to keep Americans uninformed about climate changes that may affect our economy, the understanding of diseases necessary to protect our health, and information about political and economic developments that may be vital for our national security."

"Political grandstanding"

Brandon Hensler, Florida ACLU Communications Director, who called the law "political grandstanding" in a press release, told About's Student Travel, "We fully expect to be victorious in this lawsuit because the law which was signed in by Governor Bush is not constitutional and we intend to prove that in a court of law."

Governor Bush's brother, President George Bush, has greatly tightened Cuba student travel restrictions during his terms. The Florida Ledger noted in May that little academic travel occurs between Florida and other countries listed by the Travel to Terrorist States act (North Korea, Iran, Libya, Syria and Sudan) and wrote, "... so it is clear that Cuba is the main target." The GOP courts Cuban-American favor and some Cuban-Americans support the decades-old US embargo on Cuba trade. Rivera, whose Miami constituency is high in Cuban-American voters, was widely quoted as saying, "Legislators just don’t pay too much attention to what academics think."

Cuba's last act of overt hostility toward the US was over 40 years ago. Recent studies in Cuba includes a University of Florida club visit to Cuba for data collection to aid Florida in reducing mosquito-transmitted West Nile risks. Yellow fever study done on Cuba a century ago is credited with conquering the disease. Currently, US students wishing to engage in Cuba travel must either qualify for licenses or travel to the island for a minimum of ten weeks.

^{Related resources: Florida Bill Cuts Cuba Student Travel" | Federal US Cuba travel restrictions | ACLU Florida suit defined | Florida Representative David Rivera | "Travel to Terrorist States" voting record | "Travel to Terrorist States" language | Why Cuba is considered a terrorist state}