The Florida Roundup - U.S. Humanitarian Parole Program; Florida’s Israel flights; School districts navigate book reviews

Episode Date: October 20, 2023

This week on The Florida Roundup, we talk about the U.S. Humanitarian Parole Program with Luis Miranda, DHS’ Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Communications (08:10). Plus, we look at Florida’s chartered flights from Israel with the Miami Herald’s Ana Ceballos (24:02). And later, an update on how school districts are navigating book reviews (37:16).

This is the Florida Roundup. I'm Tom Hudson. Thanks for being with us this week. A year ago this month, Mariana Bugarra and her husband were getting ready for a very dangerous journey, one that thousands of people have taken before. They were about to leave their home in Venezuela to trek through the Darien jungle, separating South and Central America on their way to the southern border of the United States. It's a trip she has seen thanks to friends making that journey, posting photos on social media. And I saw the videos.

Horrible, horrible. But then they decided not to come, at least not right away. You see, the Biden administration had just launched a new effort in hopes of reducing the number of migrants flooding the southern border. Venezuelans could apply for humanitarian parole. It allows people like Bruguera and her family to escape violence and economic disasters like they experienced in Venezuela. They can come to America for two years if someone here sponsors and supports them. They can also legally work. Bruguera is a lawyer. She signed up for the

program, stayed in Venezuela and got a sponsor here in Florida and hoped to be in America for Christmas. Last Christmas, it did not happen. She was not approved for the humanitarian parole until April and her husband is still waiting in Venezuela. The program is the best hope we've had in years, she told me. But she said the waiting hurts. More than a quarter of a million people have received the parole as of September. People from four countries are eligible, Venezuela, Cuba, Haiti and Nicaragua. And thousands have come to Florida thanks to the diaspora communities. Immigration is an important political and economic issue. With more than one

in four people working in Florida born outside of the country, the Sunshine State's economy has a higher proportion of workers not born in America compared to the country as a whole. Meantime, the border issue, as some call it, is a dividing line for politics. So how does this effort by the Biden administration impact Florida's efforts to crack down on undocumented migrants? How does the immigration issue impact you and your community? What do you think of separate state efforts

to tackle illegal immigration? Email us now, radio, atfloridaroundup.org. Email us now, radio at thefloridaroundup.org. Or call 305-995-1800. 305-995-1800. Now, the chance to work legally in the United States for two years was a key component of this humanitarian parole program the Biden administration launched one year ago this month. Despite the promise of work permits, some new arrivals from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela have been left unable to work in America for months, causing stress and financial pressure for them and the people who agreed to sponsor them. financial pressure for them and the people who agreed to sponsor them. But not all people escaping violence in their homes overseas to the United States have this problem.

Danny Rivera reports now from our partner station WLRN in Miami. Tens of thousands of Afghans have been paroled into the U.S. since the government collapsed two years ago and the U.S. military chaotically pulled out. And since the Russian invasion, more than 100,000 Ukrainians have come to the U.S. under a parole program modeled after the one for Afghans. What's notable about both these programs is that the new arrivals are automatically allowed to work for at least three months as soon as they arrive. They can start working and they can work for 90 days while they wait for that work employment authorization card.

Cecilia Esterlin is an immigration research analyst at the Niskaysin Center, a nonpartisan think tank in D.C. She says the parole program for Ukrainians and Afghans is working smoothly. But this success has not transferred to a newer parole program rolled out last October, the one that's let nearly 250,000 people into the country over the last year, first from Venezuela and later from Cuba,

Haiti, and Nicaragua. When one of those nationals gets here, they cannot automatically work. Instead, they first have to apply for a work permit. Federal data shows it takes on average about four months to approve those permits. Esterlyn says this needs to change. So that at least they can start working and hopefully they can join the workforce more quickly. They can help us with the labor shortages that we have

and in general just relieve some of the pressure that these families and their sponsors are experiencing. The Department of Homeland Security tells WLRN the difference between the groups is that specific laws were passed making it easier for Ukrainians and Afghans to quickly get to work. The parole program and other actions taken by the Biden administration are executive actions based on interpretations of existing laws.

That's why many states, including Florida, are fighting the parole program and federal court. The federal backlog of pending work authorizations has exploded. According to federal data, more than 400,000 new arrivals in the U.S. have been waiting over six months to get work permits. The Biden administration says it's working to speed up the process.

Democrats and Republicans have asked me for help placing these migrants into jobs, jobs that have gone unfilled for too long. In New York State, the backlog has become a top priority for Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul. The state is seeing thousands of migrants, including people who applied for asylum and likely many from the parole program. She pressed the White House to fast track the work permits. For me, the answer to these two crises, this humanitarian crisis and our workforce crisis, is so crystal clear and common sense. Let them get the work authorizations. Let them work legally. Let them work.

In response, the Biden administration recently expanded temporary protected status for nearly half a million Venezuelans who entered the U.S. before July 31st. That move might help many Venezuelans get work permits, but it won't have much impact on those who came under the parole program. In Orlando, Samuel Vilches Santiago is sponsoring his aunt and cousin from Venezuela, and his parents are sponsoring two other cousins through the program.

When we talked on Zoom back in August, work permits for his cousins had just arrived in the mail. They don't know yet. I have to call them. I was going to surprise them later today. Vilches Santiago works for the American Business Immigration Coalition, a pro-immigrant advocacy group. He says there are tons of job openings in Florida, and people like his aunt and cousins are ready and just waiting to fill them. And these are jobs that might not be the best paying, but some of them are making $15, $20 an hour in key industries like construction, hospitality, and retail.

I heard from him later. Both his cousins got jobs working at a concert venue in Orlando. I'm Danny Rivero in Miami. This story is part of Waiting for America, a series of reports evaluating a key plank of the Biden administration's immigration agenda one year later. You can find more at WLRN.org slash waiting. So what's at stake here in Florida? What's at stake in your community? How does this effort by the Biden administration impact Florida's own state efforts to crack down

on undocumented immigrants? And how does the immigration issue impact your vote? You can email us now, radio at thefloridaroundup.org. Our inbox is always open for you, radio at thefloridaroundup.org, or call 305-995-1800, 305-995-1800. Louis Miranda is with us, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Communications at the United States Department of Homeland Security. Assistant Secretary Miranda, welcome to the Florida Roundup. Thanks for your time today. Thank you, Tom. It's good to be with you. How is the department addressing this backlog of work permit applications by parolees for this

humanitarian program? It's a great question, Tom. And I think one of the things that's important to understand is, and this was covered a little bit in the prior reporting, but it's that for those who are actually seeking asylum, asylum laws do have very specific limits set by Congress that require a wait of 180 days. So that's not something that the Department of Homeland Security can change. However, what we've done with these parole processes, whether it's with the Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans, or with the Uniting for Ukraine, is that we've been able to do those in a way where we make them eligible for work permits right away. And we've worked to speed up the processing for that. So beginning

October 1st, our citizenship and immigration services started working to accelerate processing for employment authorization for people who've come in through CBP1, for example. And we had already been working to- And sorry, for those of us who don't speak acronyms there in the U.S. government, what is that? Is that the humanitarian program? Is that the lingo for the humanitarian parole program? No, we have the humanitarian parole program was actually already sped up pretty efficiently. So by speeding up, what do you mean by that exactly in terms of the work permit wait period? So for the work permits for people who have come in through the parole processes, we've

been able to have median processing times closer to 30 days. So it's been quite efficient for those who've actually followed the lawful pathway and taken the parole process for traveling directly here, as opposed to trying to journey through the Southwest border. So that's been very efficient and it's helped keep, I think you all mentioned it, over a quarter million people who otherwise might have tried to cross the border have come in legally and are eligible for work permits. Right. The legal status is being challenged. And I'll ask you about that in a moment. But on this work permit issue in June,

there was a report from the ombudsman of the Citizenship and Immigration Services that said essentially use the same paperwork for the humanitarian parole application as for work permits. Has that been implemented to help speed up this process? Well, again, we can't do that for asylum, which is something Congress has to fix or address. And it's not something that we're going to do administratively. But what we are doing is accelerating it for people who came in through the southwest border through CBP one appointments. Right. I want to focus on the humanitarian parole program specifically, though, Lewis. They do. They do receive a humanitarian parole through CBP one. If if they are admitted, many of those do receive that. And what we're seeing right now-

But the complaints are, though, the critics say, though, that an applicant for the humanitarian parole program has to fill out a set of paperwork for that and a separate paperwork for the work permit, which is a key component of the humanitarian parole program, allowing folks to come to the United States legally. Yes, that's correct. We do follow the law and people have to file a request for an employment authorization document. And so when they file that document, we've actually kept the processing time fairly quick for people who've come in through that humanitarian parole.

And we are working, as I said, for those who have come in through CBP-1 who've also received a parole. We're also working to reduce the median time from 90 days to 30 days. So what's the timeline to be able to hit that 30-day mark? Well, we're working on that right now, but for people who came in through CHMV, which is the parole process for people who flew directly in, it was already close to that. It was already close to 30 to 45 days over the course of the last year. So that process has actually worked really well. And the vast majority

of those folks do have work permits. We're seeing some of the individuals who have taken longer or who don't realize that they're eligible. And this is why it's such an important conversation. There are people who cross the southwest border by requesting an appointment at a port of entry through the CBP1 app. They may not realize that they are eligible for a work permit, and so some of them may wait. They may be misinterpreting if they are not asylum seekers and thinking that they have to wait. So those are some of the things that we're also working to make sure that we're conducting outreach interviews like this to make sure that those individuals understand that if you did receive a parole and you're eligible for a work permit, go ahead and apply for that. And we're working to speed those up. Lewis, stick with us. Let me just tell folks, Lewis Morandes, who we're speaking with here, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Communications at the United States Department

of Homeland Security. We're talking about a Biden administration immigration policy humanitarian parole program that was put into place about a year ago, affecting four countries, Venezuela, Haiti, Cuba, and Nicaragua. Thousands have applied for that program. Thousands have found refuge in Florida, thanks to the diaspora of those communities here in the Sunshine State. 305-995-1800 is our phone number. We're live on this Friday. Ross has been listening in in Boca.

Go ahead, Ross. You're on the radio. Yes, good afternoon. Thanks for calling. Great discussion. the radio. Yes, good afternoon. Thanks for calling. Great, great discussion. My concern is that when we think of the solutions that are for the problems that exist in the third world, I don't believe those solutions are emptying the third world of their most capable people and bringing them here. I think what we're going to wind up doing is creating more Hades. If we, the people that have the wherewithal and the ability, the cognitive

ability, the training and the adaptability to make a move from one country to another are precisely the kind of people that are needed in that country to make the changes in that country that are required. If we vacuum out all the people, all the engineers and the lawyers and the doctors and everything else out of those countries, or not just the trained professionals, but also the people that have the gumption and the ethics and the wherewithal to make things happen and bring them here, what are we doing to those countries in the long term? Ross, let me ask you. It's an interesting perspective. Are you saying essentially that the United States is attracting those migrants

that otherwise would stay in those economic conditions in Haiti that exist perhaps through no fault of their own? Well, think of it. If we were colonizing the moon or Mars, who would go? I mean, who would be the people that would go? Well, there are no native-born people on the moon. There are native-born people in Venezuela and Haiti. We're not talking about who cares who's native

and who's not native. What I'm saying is that you have a bell curve of cognitive abilities in every country, and if we suck out the people that are the most capable of effecting changes in those countries, we're in effect creating basket cases. I'm just trying to get clear, though, Ross. You're saying it's the... Is it the immigration policy in the United States that's attracting perhaps

the best and the brightest, or is it the economic opportunities that they see and sense in the United States versus their own country? What's happening, basically, is by creating an easier immigration system or making it easier, encouraging people to leave countries like Venezuela, what is the long term? What's the end game for Venezuela? We solve Venezuela's problem by every Venezuelan coming here and creating Venezuela here. You know, I think that's a different topic to create, right, to create one's own country. But, Ross, I appreciate the perspective from Boca Raton.

Thanks so much for calling here on the Florida Roundup. Louis Miranda with the Department of Homeland Security. Let me ask you about this humanitarian parole program, just one of the latest efforts by the Biden administration to address the admitted situation on the southern border. Florida is one of the 21 states that have sued the administration in federal court, arguing that this program is executive overreach. The states say that the immigration law requires the federal government to, quote, grant parole only on a case-by-case basis, and this humanitarian parole program is granting parole based upon country of origin. How does the administration respond? Yeah, that's an important question, and I can't speak directly to issues that are in litigation, but what I can speak to is the bigger picture of the parole process. It is case by case, so each individual

application is evaluated independently, and it is important to also recognize that what we've done is to manage a dynamic here where Congress has not reformed the immigration system for decades. We have a broken system and it doesn't properly calibrate our economic needs because we do have millions of jobs and plenty of employers throughout the country who would welcome more workers. We just don't have the mechanisms in place to handle it at that volume. And so what we've done is to do a balancing act here of the strength and enforcement to be able to calibrate that. But we do need Congress to address the broader issues with the broken immigration. I think there's probably broad agreement on that piece of it. But the states that are plaintiffs in this lawsuit argue the humanitarian parole policy is essentially just a new visa program that they say allows hundreds of thousands of aliens, which is the legal term here, to enter the United States

who otherwise have no basis of doing so. In other words, defining a humanitarian need. And indeed, one of the things that we are seeing is it's not, you know, this is not something unique to the United States. We're seeing a hemispheric and really global migration driven by a lot of different factors and pulled by a lot of different factors. One of the biggest magnets is, of course, the strength of our economy, which has also recovered particularly well relative to other countries in the post-COVID dynamic. And so, you know, that has an impact. Yeah, Lewis, I'm sorry to interrupt, but we've got to leave it there. We're up against the time here, but I do appreciate your time. Thank you for speaking with us. Thank you, Tom. Much appreciated. I appreciate your time.

Lewis Miranda, the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Communications at the United States Department of Homeland Security with us here on the Florida Roundup. Now, still to come on our program, stick with us. We're going to be talking about the Sunshine State and the war between Israel and Hamas. That's next as our program continues. We're back on the Florida Roundup. Thanks again for being with us. I'm Tom Hudson. Next week on this program, abortion. The Florida State Supreme Court is weighing whether it's constitutional to ban abortions after 15 weeks. In the meantime, there's a battle over efforts to put an abortion question to voters

next year, and the law banning abortions after six weeks is on hold for the time being. So how is abortion shaping your vote? Do you want to vote on it yourself? The U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down Roe versus Wade a year and a half ago and the standoff in Congress now has led to state action and Florida has followed through. So health care, privacy and access are all at issue in the debate over abortion. We want to hear from you. Share your thoughts now. Radio at the Florida Roundup dot org is our email now. Radio at thefloridaroundup.org is our email address. Radio at thefloridaroundup.org. We may use your stories next week. This week marks two full weeks of war between Israel and Hamas. This weekend, some UF students may be headed back home as they've been called to serve in Israel.

Ailey Shaines reports from our partner station in Gainesville, WUFT. We want to recite the entire book of Psalms as a community. Rabbi Aaron Notick of Chabad at the University of Florida is about to commence the Tehillim reading, or Psalms, with Jewish UF students.

The Tehillim is divided. The 150 chapters of Tehillim are divided throughout all the days of the month. So the number that you are assigned finds your Tehillim is divided. The 150 shakars of Tehillim are divided through all the days of the month. So the number that you are assigned finds your Tehillim where it says that day. They are reading the entire book of Tehillim as a community to pray for the protection of those affected by the war between Israel and Hamas and for the protection of the soldiers in the Israeli Defense Force, or IDF. of the soldiers in the Israeli Defense Force, or IDF. Israel may be thousands of miles away, but for the Jewish community in Gainesville and UF,

it's close to home, as some UF students are IDF reservists who will be sent to fight and defend their homeland. They called me Saturday morning from Israeli number. I woke up and they told me, you have two hours to be in the base. Noam Levy is a 22-year-old business student from Oranit, just east of Tel Aviv. And then they keep in touch with me and probably go on Sunday or something like that. I'm hoping that maybe soon, because there's a lot of mess with the flights to Israel, with Ben Gurion Airport. Since the deadly Hamas attacks, students like Levi and philosophy and biology student Shachar Katz,

an exchange student and reservist from Jerusalem, could only watch the news and hope their friends and families are OK. They started calling for the news and they realized slowly what is happening. It was the entire weekend just looking for the the food trying to understand what is going on. He says it's been a tough week but his teachers have been supportive and flexible. My other professors were concerned they asked for the safety of my family how am I doing and they said if I need anything more time or stuff like that missing classes then we'll be absolutely fine with it. For both reservists getting the call to serve their country is nothing new but

what is new is putting their education on hold for levy this is especially difficult I really like you have so far this is amazing place great University the culture of UF the football games were nothing like I ever seen before so yeah I'm kind of like sad that it had to stop on freshman year. But for Levi, like Hatz, it's a small priority right now. To be honest, I can't even concentrate like in school right now. It's so like minority of what's going on in Israel. So I kind of like didn't pay attention for school these days. Israel, so I kind of like didn't pay attention for school these days.

As the Jewish students finish the book of Tehillim, student and Chabad member Daniel Ohana says a Misha Berach, a prayer for those who need health or protection on behalf of the soldiers and all those in harm's way. Eli Shaines, WUFT News. Amen. Last week, Governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency in Florida because of the war between Israel and Hamas, citing Floridians in Israel wanting to come home. That emergency declaration helped open the way for the state to pay for flights to Israel to pick up Americans. Project Dynamo, it's a nonprofit organization from Tampa, led the first flight last week.

Brian Stern is the CEO and founder of the group. Here he is on that first flight back. We're getting a couple hundred Americans out in one shot. Big shout out to Governor DeSantis. Thank you so much for your support. Your executive order was a game changer for us and allowed us to save all these lives. Anna Ceballos is with us now, politics and policy reporter from the Statehouse. She writes for the Miami Herald and other publications. Anna, welcome back to the program. What do we know about the role that the state of Florida played in these rescue flights?

Hi, yes. So we've been seeing a steady flow of flights coming into the Tampa International Airport since Sunday. And what we know is that the nonprofit organization, Project Dynamo, which is an organization that has been operating for a long time that brings U.S. citizens home from conflict zones around the world, was contacted by the state at some point before the executive order was issued last week. And they've been in touch with them because this organization has been contacting people

on the ground, finding Americans who are trying to get back to the U.S. And so that is kind of how the partnership worked out. And the state has been funding the cost of air travel. How many flights do we know have been chartered or flown under this project Dynamo? So that is a little bit confusing at this point. The state hasn't really been providing a lot of information. They've just been announcing the flights when they arrive, and the governor and the first lady have been greeting these passengers.

and the governor and the first lady have been greeting these passengers. But exactly how many flights the state has funded remains unclear. For now, we know that they have partnered several times with Project Dynamo. There was one that the state funded on Sunday that brought in 270 people. But Project Dynamo also said that there were four other flights, one carrying, two carrying eight people and two others carrying 12 people that were also done in partnership with the state. The state hasn't really commented on that. And then on Wednesday, there was another flight that arrived with 47 Americans. And half of those were passengers that Project Dynamo contacted and connected to the state, and then the

rest were contacted by the state on its own accord, but how, we don't really know. This may seem a little like a trivial question, but I'm just wondering what kind of planes are we talking about here? From that first plane of over 200 Americans on board to one of those flights you mentioned had fewer than a dozen. Right, so the one on Wednesday, it was an Egypt Air Boeing plane. So they're pretty big airplanes. So it looks like they're commercial, but it's unclear whether the state is contracting with the commercial airlines themselves. It's really not clear. They're not really responding to questions. Okay. So let's talk about. They're not really responding to questions. Okay. So let's talk about then kind of how the money flows here. As you mentioned,

your reporting has shown that the state reached out to Project Dynamo prior to the governor issuing his executive order. And then at least the first Project Dynamo flight then, as we heard from Brian Stern, on board that flight thanking Governor DeSantis, saying the executive order, quote, was a game changer. What do we know about funding, about paying for these flights? So that's another question that remains. We know a little bit, but not the full picture yet. It was interesting to hear Brian Stern, the CEO of Project Dynamo, to say that this is the first time ever that the organization has had the financial assistance from any government agency. Because it's a nonprofit, right?

It's a 501c3. It's a nonprofit in the United States, and it accepts donations to provide these kinds of rescue efforts. Exactly. They're 100% donation funded. Well, until these flights at least, right, Anna? I mean, it appears that there's some government money that has been helpful to support these. This was the first time. And so what we know, again, we've been asking since I think Friday, I want to say, when we got these planes have been going on, exactly how the vetting was going on for how they were going to be contacting passengers, whether they were going to contract with a private jet company or what exactly was going on with contracts. Right. And we haven't really heard back from the state. with contracts, right? And we haven't really heard back from the state. But what we have known,

and since the flight started coming in, were Kevin Guthrie, the executive director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, which is the state agency that is really coordinating some of these flights, said in an interview with News Nation earlier this week that they had spent about $4 million to fly Americans from Israel to Tampa. And that included the cost of the flight with all the services, including hotel stays, rental cars, and any other thing. But it's unclear whether it was $4 million for the one flight on Sunday, or if that includes other flights. And it's still a little bit. or if that includes other flights, and it's still a little bit. And to be clear, right, Anna, the scrutiny here on these flights is not about the flights themselves, and certainly the need for those Americans or anybody else in Israel who would like to escape the violence and the war that's happening there.

It's the scrutiny is on the transparency, given that it appears that there's taxpayer money that's being used here. Right. And it's just a matter of because it happened so quickly, right? I mean, the governor issued the executive order and within days, there was already, you know, hundreds of Americans on the flight. Distinguished has been saying that it was Floridians, but we've learned that, you know, it's not just Floridians, it's Americans from other states as well. And the other thing is that this specific nonprofit, while, you know, it's doing every passenger that we've been able to contact has been so incredibly thankful for being rescued right from this war zone right now. right, from this war zone right now, it has been criticized in the past by the U.S. Department of State because they have taken risks that maybe other nonprofits don't usually take when it comes to this because they specialize in such a sensitive, I guess, such sensitive operations, right, with rescuing people from war zones. Yeah, they've done similar flights out of Ukraine,

for instance, and received some criticism flights out of Ukraine, for instance, and received some criticism for some of their processes and practices. Back to the state money, you mentioned the State Department of Emergency Management director talked about $4 million. We don't know if that was for one flight or if that's the total for the project or somewhere in between. Where is that money coming from in terms of state coffers? What agency, you know, what pocket does that come out of?

Again, we really don't know. But what we do know is that in the last year or so, DeSantis has had direct access to about $500 million where he can unilaterally reach into that cash and use for emergencies, right? It's called the Emergency Preparedness and Response Fund, which the legislature really created so he could have more flexibility with how to spend money and take action when it comes to emergencies like hurricanes, the pandemic. And now that there is an executive order issuing an emergency in the state, this could potentially open up that possibility of that fund being used for these whites. Governor DeSantis, as the chief executive officer here in the Sunshine State, as well as a presidential hopeful, has been very vocal in his support for Israel.

vocal in his support for Israel. The head of Israel's consulate here in Florida has gone so far as saying there's been no better state than Florida supporting Israel. How have state lawmakers responded to all this? So there's been some developing news in the last hour or so where DeSantis has said today that he will be calling state lawmakers back to Tallahassee to pass further restrictions against Iran, which has been in the wake of the Hamas attack on Israel. We don't know what that legislation will say. We don't know when that's going to be yet. They haven't really quite issued any formal directives or any there's hasn't been any vote. But that is something that lawmakers could potentially be doing in the coming weeks. So this is a special session in advance of the

regular scheduled legislative session, which is due to begin in January of next year. Is that right? Correct. What could the state of Florida do in terms of any kind of legislation that targets another country? So that's the thing that why these details would be really important. You know, in the statement, the governor's press secretary said that Florida would pass the strongest sanctions against Iran. How that exactly happens is it's not really clear because there's already some, you know, federal sanctions against this. So it's not clear how the state would go further than that.

But details will be, the devil will be in the details. Indeed, they will. Watch this space and we'll be reading it as well. Anna Ceballos, politics and policy reporter for the Miami Herald with us. Anna, thanks so much. Of course. Thank you. You are listening to the Florida Roundup from your Florida Public Radio station. The fight in the U.S. House of Representatives over who will be its new leader goes through Florida.

A small group of Florida House Republican members have not joined the majority of their GOP colleagues in voting for Ohio Congressman Jim Jordan as House Speaker, and it has helped keep Jordan from the position through several votes. So how has this happened? Well, let's go back to Tuesday of this week. Vern Buchanan is a Republican representing the area between Tampa and Sarasota. He tweeted on Tuesday that he had a, quote, very productive conversation with Jim Jordan over the phone. Buchanan said he would vote for Jordan as speaker. Now, most Republicans were in Jordan's camp, but not enough. Three were from Florida during that first vote. Carlos Jimenez and Mario Diaz-Balart from South Florida.

John Rutherford from the Jacksonville area. No person having received a majority of the whole number of votes cast by surname. The speaker has not been elected. That first vote came on Tuesday with no resolution. The chair declares the House in recess subject to the call of the chair. Tuesday afternoon, Jimenez was asked by Fox Business who he supported to lead the House. Kevin McCarthy. I've been very, very vocal about it. I've also been very consistent. Since Wednesday, I've been in the same place and I'm going to stick to it. When the second floor vote was called in the early afternoon on Wednesday, Jimenez

stuck with his vote against Jordan. So did the two other Florida representatives who did not vote for Jordan a day earlier. And the group was then joined by one more Florida Republican. Buchanan. Donalds. Vern Buchanan was one of four House Republicans who changed their minds on that second vote and voted against Jordan. A Republican colleague from New York called them childish for changing their votes. By Wednesday night, Congressman Rutherford from the Jacksonville area put out a statement saying the, quote, hardball tactics of Jordan and his supporters had not worked. Rutherford's statement went on to say, quote, Jordan is fiddling while the world is on fire.

Now, Thursday morning, Congressman Jimenez was on C-SPAN voicing his continued support for the former House speaker. Kevin McCarthy is our leader. It's obvious when we're in conference that he's our leader. Kevin McCarthy is our leader. It's obvious when we're in conference that he's our leader. We need to get back to our leader, undo the harm that's been done for the last two weeks by those eight Republicans and the 208 Democrats that voted along with the eight Republicans. Congressman Diaz-Balart, meantime, stopped in the tunnel under the Capitol to speak with reporters Thursday afternoon as the wheeling and dealing over whether there would be a third floor vote continued. Passions are always high in this process. But I think any efforts at any level to try to intimidate or to try to pressure first backfire and second place are unacceptable and have to

be rejected in the strongest of terms. JOHN YANG And outside the Capitol, a Jordan ally, Republican Congresswoman Maria Salazar from Miami, voiced her growing frustration. I understand that democracy is messy. I would rather any day have this system, the American electoral system, than any other. Salazar continued her support today for Jim Jordan, but it was not enough. In a third floor vote Friday morning, Jordan failed again to get enough Republican support. The four Florida congressmen, Carlos Jimenez, Mario Diaz-Balart, John Rutherford, and Vern Buchanan, again voted against Jordan. Still to come on our program, lots more. Stick with us. We'll be talking about more frustration and fear about books in Florida

public schools. That's next. You're listening to the Florida Roundup from your Florida Public Radio station. This is the Florida Roundup. Thanks for being along with us. I'm Tom Hudson. A couple of weeks ago in this program, we were talking about books and school libraries. Remember, Florida leads the nation in removing books from school libraries, according to Penn America. That's a free expression advocacy group. Well, we have an update now on some efforts by school districts to follow what critics complain is vague language in Florida's parental rights in education law. The legislation bans school instruction on sexual

orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade. That was later then expanded to all grades. Well, the removal of some school library books in Charlotte County that district leaders believe is needed to avoid breaking that law has led to frustration and fear. From WGCU in Fort Myers, Sandra Victronova reports. From WGCU in Fort Myers, Sandra Victronova reports. Before parents and concerned citizens could speak pro or con about Charlotte County's move to remove books, school superintendent Mark Vianello said he needed to set the record straight. Recent information has circulated misstating district training documents

and inaccurately portrayed the actions of our school district. I would like to clarify and address a few very important points. As your superintendent, I want to express my unwavering commitment to every student. I firmly believe that all means all. Vianello's comment about being inaccurately portrayed is a reference to a school district document obtained through a public records request and shared with news media. It appeared to show that Vianello and school board attorney Michael McKinley directed district staff to remove all books containing LGBTQ plus characters and themes from school libraries. A district spokesperson says that document wasn't a direct quote from Vianello or McKinley but but were someone's training notes, apparently taken by district staff during training about what could be allowed in school libraries. Still at the board

meeting, attorney McKinley acknowledged he is advising the district to cautiously review books and materials based on required compliance with the new state law, dubbed by some, don't say gay, and the severity of penalties for violating it. In light of the Florida Department of Education's required library media and instructional materials training for media specialists and other personnel involved in the selection and maintenance of school district library materials, we have advised the district to err on the side of caution. That stance led to a school board meeting full of people largely upset. Michael Hirsch, a Vietnam veteran, called the district's actions cowardly and fascist. If you continue to ban books, I'd like to hereby lodge my own personal request.

You have in the Charlotte High School Library a book that tells the disgusting story of two especially slutty teenage sisters who were so annoyed with their parents that they schemed to get dad drunk, then have sex with them, and they get pregnant. That's a repulsive story to keep on the shelves within reach of our impressionable young children. Therefore, I demand you immediately remove all copies of this book, the King James Version of the Holy Bible. Several speakers said the removal of content is critical to protecting parents' rights to protect their children. I believe that the school board should stay out of sexual orientations. I do not give you my hard-earned tax monies to be getting in people's private lives. LGBTQ plus is a very small minority, and you can support them,

but the rest of the children do not need to hear the disgusting, obscene pornography that is in some of the books that are being read. I believe you are pushing a woke agenda that none of your parents want. Please do your job only. Stay out of our children's pants. And thank you for your time. WGCU requested an interview with the superintendent and the board attorney to clarify the district's policies, but both declined. A school spokesperson says so far just one book has been permanently removed.

78 have been removed at least temporarily while they're being reviewed for what the district said was sexual content in most cases. The one book permanently eliminated, according to spokesperson Claudette Smith, the 1936 debut novel by Ayn Rand called We the Living. In Port Charlotte, I'm Sandra Victorova. The Pasco County School Board, meantime, is defending a book, but not because it was under scrutiny over sexuality and gender, but interest rates and inflation. Maybe you've heard of Dave Ramsey. He hosts a radio show about personal finance, but is a lot more than that. He's written several bestselling show about personal finance, but is a lot more than that. He's written several best-selling books about personal finance and, with a stable of personalities,

offers advice on money, personal development, and professional growth under the umbrella of Ramsey Solutions. He describes his company's mission as providing, quote, biblically-based, common-sense education and empowerment that give hope to everyone in every walk of life. sense education and empowerment that give hope to everyone in every walk of life. Well, Pasco County students could be using Ramsey's Foundation in Personal Finance book for a new financial literacy requirement. The State Board of Education okayed the book last year, but with its biblical references, the book has its critics. The Pasco County School District defended its decision this month to use the book. Carrie Sheridan from our partner station WUSF in Tampa attended a hearing asking the board to reconsider that decision. At the hearing in school board headquarters, the two sides presented their cases. A Pasco mom and former teacher,

Jessica Wright, said the committee that reviewed the radio host's personal finance textbook found many problems with it. You will see that there's not one single area that says meets criteria because the textbook does not meet any of the seven criteria of the rubric provided to the narrowing team. The Ramsey book was never recommended. School district leaders gave it the green light even though specifics are not yet clear on what a new course in financial literacy mandated by the state for incoming high school students will require. A series of district personnel spoke at the hearing about how the state had already approved Ramsey's book and all procedures were followed. Assistant Superintendent Vanessa Hilton.

The evidence will clearly show that both the Florida Department of Education and the District School Board of pass the county abided by all procedural and substantive requirements in vetting and adopting these instructional materials. District leaders also said the team of reviewers wasn't supposed to recommend a textbook, but really only had to narrow down the options from three to two, which it did. In April, there was a school vote on the two textbooks. Seven high schools voted for Ramsey's, seven did not, with four saying it's better to wait until next year once the standards for the new course are clear. I'm Carrie Sheridan in Land O'Lakes. A hearing officer will make a final decision on the textbook's fate by next week. I'm Tom Hudson and you're listening to the Florida Roundup from your

Florida Public Radio station. Finally in the Roundup, a world championship wrapped up this week here in the Sunshine State. Contestants used foils to go after each other, all of whom were at least a half century old. More than 500 fencers were in Daytona Beach at the Veteran World Fencing Championships. There were three age categories for competitors in their 50s, 60s, and 70s, and three weapons, foil, a pay, and saber. Joe Burns with our partner station WMFE in Orlando visited one of those veteran fencers who trains in Central Florida. Team USA's Georgina Love lives in Fort Pierce and runs the Treasure Coast Fencing Club. She drives up the coast once a week to train in Melbourne. The lithe 63-year-old is one of those rare fencers competing in two weapons, placing

fifth in foil and tenth in epee. Love says she's traveled to Europe for previous international tournaments. And this year it's so exciting to be able to drive two hours and come to the World Championships. Earlier last week, Love met me at Space Coast Olympic fencing. Her coach, Daniel Bucher, tested and tweaked her gear. They masked up and did a few parries and ripostes for my sake, snapping their swords together in rapid and rhythmic motions. Fencing tests the athlete on so many of the challenges that come with growing older. There's balance, for instance, agility and speed.

It requires nimbleness of mind and body. Love works hard to stay physically sharp. She has avoided serious injuries so far. As we all get older, we all know you wake up one morning and can't move your neck just because you slept. So it doesn't always have to be an injury. You can just be surprised one day by something deciding to not function properly. Love is competing at Worlds Against Women her age, but she also likes to enter open tournaments and test her steel against college-age fencers. Sometimes you just get slaughtered, and sometimes you can make the college boys worry a little bit, so it's a lot of fun. I really enjoy the challenge. For Love, fencing is full of life lessons, taking about one touch at a time, learning to pick yourself up and move forward

after a tough loss. Love works part-time at a museum, paints, and used to compete in show horses, but fencing is where she really excels. She started at age 42 just for fun at first and eventually entered competitions. Love took over the club to keep it going after her previous coach died in 2015. She says her new coach has transformed her approach. There was technique and execution. But the mental game is what he's really helped me with. He's taught me strategy and tactics that I can use to turn things around or make things happen.

Every lesson, Love says she learned something new. Plus, the vigorous exercise keeps her mentally sharp. It just makes you feel good. something new. Plus, the vigorous exercise keeps her mentally sharp. It just makes you feel good. Even for older fencers who just want to play around, it's a lot of fun. You just empty your brain of everything except stabbing your opponent. That does sound fun. It is fun. USA Fencing's Director of Sports Medicine, Dr. Peggy Chen, says any older person considering fencing should see their doctor first, just in case there are concerns about falls or other underlying issues, because it's a strenuous sport. You're going to be activating both your aerobic and your anaerobic systems.

You're going to be utilizing hand-eye coordination at the same time. There is a lot of strategic thinking along the way. And, you know, there's a very physical component to it. It offers health benefits like other sports, but Chen says there are challenges to access. It requires a lot of equipment and a skilled coach. She says the sport also offers seniors opportunities for social connections. Love says fencing has strengthened her confidence and helped her appreciate people along the way.

I don't want to tear up. I'm just saying, I think about the people I've met over the past 20 years. It's been wonderful. I don't know what I would have done without it. Later, her voice breaks again as she remembers her former coach. She says he would have been so excited to see her competing at Worlds. In Melbourne, I'm Joe Burns. Fensers from 42 countries competed.

The United States led the way with 13 gold medals. And that is our program for today. The Florida Roundup is produced by WLRN Public Media in Miami and WUSF in Tampa. Bridget O'Brien produced our program. WLRN's Vice President of Radio and our Technical Director is Peter J. Maritz. Engineering help each and every week from Doug Peterson and Charles Michaels. Richard Ives answers the phones. Our theme music is provided by Miami Jazz Guitarist Aaron Leibos at AaronLeibos.com. Be sure to check out our podcast and you can listen to any of our past

episodes by going to WLRN.org slash podcasts. Thanks for calling, listening, emailing, and above all, supporting public media in your community. I'm Tom Hudson. Have a terrific weekend.