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Armed with a new report from the U.S. Department of Justice, a group of Florida travel agents is fighting the state's regulations on trips to Cuba.
Meanwhile, the Republican author of the 2008 law establishing those regulations dismissed the report as an attempt by the Obama administration to cozy up to Communist Cuba, according to the Miami Herald.
Today, the travel agents were scheduled to appear at a hearing to challenge the law, which requires travel agencies to post up to a $250,000 bond and pay up to $2,500 in state registration fees.
Although the law was approved by the Legislature in 2008, it hasn't taken effect, because 13 travel agencies specializing in trips to Cuba immediately filed suit. U.S. District Judge Alan S. Gold issued a temporary injunction in July.
The travel agents hope the 35-page report from the Department of Justice will bolster their case. It concludes that the law undermines "the federal government's ability to speak for the United States with one voice in foreign affairs."
The author of the law, state Rep. David Rivera of Miami, has said the law was a "homeland security issue," citing how Cuba is among five countries on the U.S. State Department's list of terrorist nations. (The others are Iraq, Iran, Syria and North Korea.)
Rivera, a Cuban-American, told the paper the Obama administration is "only interested in kissing up to the Castro regime rather than protecting Florida consumers from the abuses of these travel agencies."
