Republicans are begging migrants not to leave the state:
Florida Republicans on Monday met with migrants to urge them not to leave the state in the wake of a new anti-immigration law that is sparking boycotts of the state.
An NPR analysis determined that the law signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) “limits social services for undocumented immigrants, allocates millions more tax dollars to expand DeSantis’ migrant relocation program, invalidates driver’s licenses issued to undocumented people by other states, and requires hospitals that get Medicaid dollars to ask for a patient’s immigration status.”
On Monday, state Reps. Alina Garcia (R) and Rick Roth (R) spoke at an event advising migrants of the impacts of SB1718.
Joy Reid wrote about what’s happening a couple of weeks ago:
Last week, Desantis signed a vile and inhumane immigration bill imposing penalties and restrictions on undocumented immigrants in Florida that, among other things, bans local governments from issuing identification cards for people who can’t prove citizenship.
It criminalizes not just migrants — but any Florida resident who associates with them. This includes providing undocumented immigrants with work or transportation, which is why Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski said it would criminalize “empathy.”
The penalties — which haven’t even taken effect yet — will certainly have deadly consequences. This is what an undocumented immigrant told Telemundo’s Lourdes Hurtado, translated into English:
“They say they are going to check the hospitals. If you don’t have papers then it is scary to take care of yourself, and I am very sick right now and I need surgery … My children tell me to go back to Mexico … Because they are afraid.”
The cruelty — isn’t that the point?
But that’s not all. The immigration legislation is also a dumb economic move, leaving a void in the labor this country runs on.
A similar bill more than a decade ago didn’t go so well in Alabama, where a crackdown on immigration led to produce rotting in the fields. Because picking blueberries, tomatoes and squash largely requires hand labor — by the migrants these Republicans loathe.
Republicans don’t care about these people and their lives. What they do care about is money.
So it should surprise no one that this issue has taken over social media. We’re seeing work sites apparently abandoned. And Latino truck drivers calling for a boycott, refusing to take shipments into Florida in response to the new law.
Luís Melean, a construction worker in Florida, showed Telemundo the huge void left by construction workers who left when they heard the bill was approved. Some even left their tools behind as they abandoned the Sunshine State.
This is what Luís said about why the workers fled, translated into English: “They are saying, ‘To be detained out there and then my children are left alone, I’d rather leave before the first of July.’ It’s next month when it is going to get really tough because there won’t be qualified workers.”
But we get it: Republicans don’t care about these people and their lives. What they do care about is money.
Without migrants, the state will lose millions in federal, state and local taxes — because yes, many undocumented migrants pay taxes (though they may not reap the benefits). It will cause staffing crises for agriculture — one of the state’s most vital industries, leaving a gap in the tough, back-breaking labor no one else wants to do.
The Florida Policy Institute, a nonprofit policy research group, estimates that without undocumented workers, the state’s most labor-intensive industries would “lose 10 percent of their workforce and the wages they contribute along with them.” That could lead to a drop of $12.6 billion in Florida’s GDP in a single year — about 1.1% — which would, in turn, cut workers’ spending power and reduce state and local tax revenue.
Oh, and I hope Floridians like the higher prices in the grocery store and restaurants. If you like salad, it’s going to be an expensive trip.