A year later, Florida businesses say the state's immigration law dealt a huge blow
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About a year ago, Florida Governor- and then presidential candidate- Ron DeSantis passed one of the toughest crackdowns on immigration in the country.
SB1718 punishes employers who use undocumented labor and forbids undocumented people from having a driver's license.
Hetrick says what Florida is facing is symbolic of the larger reality in the country with an aging population and politicians framing immigration as a threat, rather than fixing a broken system.
"The future... if you look at census projection for the growth of this country, once this boomer population goes through in the next, you know, 15 years... without immigration, we shrink."
A spokesperson for Ron DeSantis told NPR that businesses are still free to hire immigrants, as long as it's legally.
In 2023 Florida hired thousands more H-2A guest workers than the year before. But farmers NPR spoke to said the bureaucracy, and the cost for applying for these work permits is crippling. There have also been widespread reports of lack of oversight and exploitation of H2A workers.
(snip)
For others in Florida, SB1718 brought a hard hit to their economy and threw the labor market into turmoil.
The law created a climate of fear that many had no option but to leave the state.
https://www.npr.org/2024/04/26/1242236604/florida-economy-immigration-businesses-workers-undocumented
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