Fla. businesses sue over Cuba travel law

More than a dozen Florida-based travel agencies and charter companies sued their state on Monday to block a new law that would make it more expensive for them to book trips to Cuba.

The law set to take effect Tuesday requires all businesses to post a $250,000 bond to the state if they book direct tours to any countries considered by the U.S. to be sponsors of terrorism. The only such trips from Florida go to Cuba.

The money would mostly be used to investigate whether the companies violate federal laws on travel to those countries. The Florida businesses claim they are suffering discrimination because it would drive up costs and could put many of them out of business.

Ira Kurzban, an attorney for the agencies, called the state law unconstitutional. A federal judge is expected to decide Tuesday whether to grant an injunction against it.

"This is an area that is highly regulated by the federal government," Kurzban said. "The state of Florida has no business intervening in this process."

Kurzban said it would only serve to make it more difficult for Cuban families on both sides of the Florida Straits to reunite. Already U.S. law limits Cuban-Americans to one visit to the communist island every three years, while the Cuban government often denies its citizens exit visas.

Republican State Rep. David Rivera, who sponsored the measure, said Monday he hoped it would cut down on travel fraud and provide greater homeland security. He also hopes it will deny resources to the Cuban government, which collects fees for the trips.

"All of the money they make and they charge goes right into the regime's pocket, so I think it's a positive byproduct if there's less money" he said.

The agencies, most of which are run by Cuban-Americans, say companies in other states, such as Georgia, would not have to jump through the same hoops. The Florida law also carries an additional risk: Criminal penalties and fines of up to $10,000 for violations of federal law but does not specify the violations.

Maria Teresa Aral, owner of the company ABC Charters, said she was offended by the insinuation that she was partnering with the Cuban government.

Her mother started her travel company in 1979 after visiting Aral's grandmother in Cuba for the first time in 17 years, she said. The majority of her clients are flying to Cuba to see their relatives.

"For me, this is very personal," she said.

Aral said she believed the law would hurt homeland security because the travel agencies that charter trips to Cuba are heavily regulated, enabling the U.S. government to check the validity of travel licenses for religious and academic groups.

If some go out of business, more people will travel through other countries - more likely without permits, she said.

The law passed overwhelmingly in Florida's Legislature, and Florida's three Cuban-American congressional representatives all urged Gov. Charlie Crist to sign it. Crist did so last week, giving the agencies only days to come up with the money and comply with the other regulations before the July 1 deadline.

The state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services said it would give the agencies some leeway because of the timing.