Florida’s newest crackdown on illegal migrants doesn’t take effect for weeks, but already the legislation is uprooting families and unsettling key pillars of Florida’s economy. It’s another reminder of how poorly we treat the powerless who take some of the most difficult jobs, and of the price that communities, employers and consumers face so that Republican leaders can weaponize their nationalist agenda. Florida needs to change course with immigration policies that are both humane and promote the state’s own interests.
The new law that goes into effect July 1 makes it harder and riskier for some employers to hire immigrants who entered the country illegally. It expands the worker verification process and requires that businesses with 25 or more employees use E-Verify, an online citizenship check. The legislation prohibits local governments from funding programs that provide ID cards to people who “do not provide proof of lawful presence in the United States,” and it invalidates driver’s licenses that those migrants obtain from other states. The measure creates a third-degree felony for knowingly transporting such immigrants into Florida, and it requires major hospitals to collect a patient’s immigration status and to report those caseloads to the state.
Gov. Ron DeSantis has seized the border crisis as a defining issue in his bid for the Republican presidential nomination. But whereas the law is a talking point in the 2024 campaign, its impacts in Florida are affecting real people. Hispanic groups organized demonstrations in Tampa and other Florida cities, warning the law would harm the economy. As the Tampa Bay Times’ Juan Carlos Chavez reported, viral videos showing abandoned farms and construction projects have sprung up on social media. Latino truck drivers also called for a suspension of deliveries to and from Florida on the day the law takes effect.
