Miami attorney Kurzban wins battle with DeSantis
There are consequences to one’s actions. And Miami immigration attorney Ira Kurzban made sure of that this past week when he issued a letter to an upcoming EB-5 & Global Immigration Expo to be held in South Florida next month. The conference is a gathering of immigration attorneys and wealth management companies who work with international investors and real estate developers.
In a letter given to the Miami Herald, Kurzban, a prominent immigration lawyer whose “Immigration Law Sourcebook” is used nationally as a resource in the legal community, and who was to be a panelist during the conference, states: “I was seriously considering your kind invitation until I was informed that you have decided to ask Ron DeSantis to be the keynote speaker at the conference.”
In the same letter he adds, “Mr. DeSantis, also known as a mini-me for his Trump-like tactics, has engaged in the most virulent anti-immigrant conduct we have ever seen by a public official in this state.’’
As reported by the Herald, “His email then prompted several conference sponsors and panelists to raise their own objections to the governor’s appearance and others also urged the conference sponsors to rescind the invitation.
“‘We are sponsors as well as speakers. If we had known that you would be inviting DeSantis as the keynote speaker, we would have given this event a miss,’ wrote Mona Shah, an attorney based in New York, in an email on Wednesday. ‘Even now, I am considering withdrawing from the event. EB-5 is all about welcoming immigrants and inviting this man as keynote just sends the wrong message.’”
In an email to Kurzban, Marie Ekberg Padilla, senior editor and vice president of operations for EB-5 Investors Magazine, who sponsors the event, answered the Miami immigration attorney stating that “…a decision has been made to reconsider DeSantis. He will not be joining our event in Miami.”
On Thursday morning organizers sent an email to conference participants that read: “Announcement: Governor DeSantis has been canceled for Miami.’’
Of course, Governor DeSantis’ ego can be compared to his mentor, former President Donald Trump. In his mind he cannot lose and hates to be embarrassed. As reported by the Herald, “The governor’s office said late Thursday that its external affairs office had no record of the event and referred questions to the governor’s reelection campaign, which may have handled scheduling.” In other words, the governor had no inkling that he had been invited to a conference that his office had not even scheduled…” (Sore loser, Mr. DiSaster!)
As expected, some of Miami’s Cuban American neo-fascist legislators — for example, Republican Rep. David Borrero — quickly came to the defense of their newest Fuhrer. In an op-ed that appeared in the Miami Herald, Borrero wrote a scathing damnation of immigrants (has he forgotten his parents were immigrants once?) stating: “DeSantis represents us and is making sure that the traffickers, coyotes and cartels from Central and South America cannot smuggle children and drugs into our communities.”
All I can add to this story is a heartfelt thank you to Ira Kurzban. I guess there are still good people left in this community.
