The governor of Florida is the promoter of one of the toughest laws against irregular immigration.
Pro-immigrant groups fear the consequences, for those workers and for the Florida economy, that the governor may have Ron DeSantis has made the fight against irregular immigration the cornerstone ofhis campaign ahead of the 2024 elections.
DeSantis officially registered his candidacy for the Republican primary on Wednesday and later in a conversation with businessman Elon Musk on Twitter outlined his electoral program, in which undocumented immigrants have an unintended role.
“Our border is a disaster,” says the governor in his first official campaign video, a message he reiterated in the bumpy launch of his candidacy that Wednesday on Twitter, where in a conversation with Musk he noted that the southern border of the United States ” collapses ” and drugs “flow into the country.
The Florida governor, who according to the polls is far behind former President Donald Trump, the clear favorite to win the primaries, is the promoter of one of the toughest laws against irregular immigration, which will take effect on July 1.
It is understood that if it reaches theWhite Housewill try to extend that rule, SB 1718 , to the entire country, although first it will have to pass the acid test in Florida , a state with a great dependence on undocumented labor in sectors such as agriculture, hospitality and construction.
“Without having entered into force, SB 1718, promoted by Governor DeSantis , has already had a human and economic impact on the inhabitants of Florida,” Juan Flores, president of the September 15 Foundation, which has organized for next June 1 in Tampa, west coast of the state, a protest against “this racist and inhumane law.”
“We are not doing the governor any harm, we immigrants are the ones who do the work that the North Americans do not do,” the Honduran Carolina Pérez, 26, lamented in statements to EFE. She has been living for a year and a half without papers in the United States.
This cleaning worker at a Miami hotel confesses to being afraid and says that both she and other co-workers are considering moving to another state with less strict immigration laws.
After officially knowing DeSantis’s intentions to reach the White House , the Florida Immigrant Coalition (FLIC) highlighted that “DeSantis’ anti-immigrant crusade” in Florida, home to 4.5 million foreigners and the third most diverse state of the country, “makes evident his incapacity to lead.
“Instead of focusing on addressing the problems that hurt Floridians, he has resorted to attacking and vilifying immigrants and using our communities as scapegoats,” added the organization, which recalled that SB 1718 provides for up to 15 years in prison . for living with or transporting an undocumented relative.
In recent months, the governor of Florida has not missed an opportunity to vilify the immigration policies of the United States President Joe Biden ‘s Administration , and has promised to send state security forces to the southern border again, as he did in 2021.
DeSantis garnered media attention last year when he chartered fifty Venezuelans who had just crossed the southern border from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts.
In the opinion of Beatriz López, political director of the Immigration Center , Florida is already feeling the economic consequences of the governor’s extreme policies, with labor shortages and empty workplaces due to the growing fears of immigrants over the SB law . 1718.
“DeSantis has made anti-immigrant policies a cornerstone of his presidential campaign even as the state of Florida, its workers, businesses and economy, suffer,” Lopez said.
Immigrant Carolina Pérez said that they are looking at President Biden , whom she has asked to expand the benefits and scope of the Temporary Protection Program that the United States applies in favor of some Hondurans.
The undocumented young woman says that if DeSantis were to reach the White House, she would have to “swim against the current.” “But I have doubts that he will be president, Trump has the advantage,” she added.
