Republicans who supported DeSantis' immigration bill seek to stop hundreds of immigrants from leaving Florida
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Republican Rep. Rick Roth says SB 1718 was designed to scare immigrants, but he and his colleagues are unprepared for the destabilization that will cause hundreds of immigrants to leave the state.
Florida Republicans who once supported Ron DeSantis' harsh anti-immigrant law are trying to stem the “potentially disastrous” mass exodus from Florida. of undocumented residents by promoting the many “legal loopholes” of the legislation.
In an interview with NPR, Roth made it clear that the anti-immigrant law was designed to “scare immigrants,” while admitting that he and his colleagues are not prepared for the destabilization that it will cause among the most established immigrant communities in the state.
“The bill really has a lot of loopholes that give you peace of mind. And the main goal of the bill is to discourage people from coming and strengthen enforcement going forward,' Roth said.
added that if the bill had been intended to be fully implemented, they would have included funding for its implementation “so that's why I'm trying to tell people it's more of a political bill than a policy.”
Both Roth and Republicans Alina Garcia and Juan Fernandez-Barquin try to force marches to “appease” the fear experienced not only by immigrants but also by employers, religious organizations, and pro groups -immigrants.
“It is very dangerous for agriculture. We desperately need more legal workers and this will make it worse,” said Roth, who was also part of the meeting with religious leaders in the city of Hialeah, in Miami-Dade County, organized by the Association of Hispanic Ministers earlier this week.
During said meeting, the Republican said that farmers are very upset because they have been left without workers, but not only has this sector been 'hit', but also construction and even tourism.
In an interview with Telemundo, Alina Gacía pointed out that the meeting with other great leaders is only “so that people do not continue with fear, because it has been created (an atmosphere) of bad information“.
However, activist María Bilbao, from the American Friends Service Committee Campaign, told the aforementioned television network that Republicans' petition doesn't mean much to immigrants On the contrary, it is full of doubts.
“(Asking immigrants not to leave) is like telling people ‘we are going to make their lives psychologically miserable, with fear, we are not going to defend you […], but stay because we need you.”
he even pointed out that the measure, in addition, encourages undocumented immigrants to report to immigration authorities.
The most restrictive law DeSantis signed on May 10 and which will go into effect on July 1 prohibits counties and municipalities, respectively, from providing funds to anyone, entity, or organization to issue identification documents to a person who does not provide proof of legal presence in the United States.
In addition, certain driver's licenses and permits issued by other states exclusively to unauthorized immigrants will not be valid in this state.
Certain hospitals will also be required to collect information on the immigration status of patients on admission or registration forms.
And those employers of more than 25 people who hire an unauthorized immigrant without verifying eligibility, via E-Verify, will receive a hefty fine.