Governor Ron DeSantis signed a new immigration bill Wednesday, saying he wants to ensure Florida taxpayers are not footing the bill for illegal immigration.
DeSantis says he signed the measure to combat Biden’s border crisis.
Now, South Florida residents — including undocumented workers — are speaking out about their reactions to the bill.
Three years ago, a man who does not wish to be identified arrived from Mexico with his wife and children. He's proud to earn a living working at a South Florida nursery. But because of his immigration status and the new Florida bill, he's considering a move to another state.
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"We basically have to flee," the man said in Spanish. "Flee as if we were criminals, and we are not criminals. On the contrary, we are here to work, and we work for a lot of companies.
Senate Bill 1718 requires employers with 25 or more employees to use the e-verify system to check legal status and those who fail to comply will be fined $1,000 per day.
The law also requires hospitals to collect and report healthcare costs for undocumented people.
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"We don't know exactly where we stand right now," said the undocumented farmworker. "We depend on our jobs to survive."
According to the migration policy institute, nearly 800,000 undocumented migrants live in Florida. Many of them work in agriculture, construction, and as caregivers.
"Everyone is calling each of our offices," said Yvette Cruz from the Farm Workers Association of Florida. "They are scared, they are asking about next steps, what to do, should they leave."
From the skyrocketing price of land to an anticipated labor shortage, some in agribusiness say they're concerned about the future of the industry in Florida.
"Florida likes to believe that the economy is not made up of immigrant people," said Santra Denis, Miami Workers Center. "We know that specifically with care workers, nurses, home health aides, nannies, housekeepers, overwhelmingly those are immigrant people and imagine if they didn't come to work. Imagine what impact that would have on our ability to go to work."
