Latino advocacy group issues Florida travel warning over new immigration law

() — One of the most prominent Latino advocacy groups in the United States urges people to avoid traveling to Florida in light of the new immigration law that will go into effect in July.

Ahead of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ long-awaited presidential candidacy announcement, he signed legislation last week that requires employers with more than 25 employees to check their immigration status through a federal database known as E-Verify. Employers who do not comply with the law face fines of US$1,000 a day until they can prove that their workers have the required documents.

In addition, the law invalidates out-of-state identification cards, such as driver’s licenses, issued to undocumented immigrants and prevents Florida-based agencies from issuing new cards. This will prevent people who immigrated illegally from driving a car in the state. People who transport undocumented immigrants living in the United States could face hefty fines and possible jail time.

The immigration bill is one of several controversial bills DeSantis signed recently that have commanded national attention as he prepares to potentially take on former President Donald Trump and others in the 2024 Republican presidential primary.

Domingo Garcia, president of the Latino advocacy group League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), called the new immigration law “hostile and dangerous.”

“As a result of this, for the second time in LULAC’s history, we are issuing a travel advisory for anyone traveling to Florida,” Garcia said at a news conference Wednesday. LULAC, a civil rights organization dedicated to promoting opportunities for Hispanic Americans, was founded 94 years ago.

DeSantis said the law is crucial to fighting “the reckless policies of the federal government and ensuring that Florida taxpayers are not footing the bill for illegal immigration,” according to a statement when he signed the law earlier this month.

Economic impact

Francisco Maldonado, a farmer who lives in Homestead, Florida, says he personally isn’t concerned about the new law because he employs fewer than 25 people. But he worries that undocumented workers who stay in the state will be deported.

Farmers you know who employ more than 25 workers are scared. “They don’t know what they are going to do, they could lose part of the farm,” he told .

Many neighboring farms have already lost workers in anticipation of the law, he said. So far none of his workers have fled.

“Laws like this, which do nothing more than harass immigrants, are bad for a state’s economy,” Lydia Guzmán, who heads LULAC’s immigration commission, said Wednesday.

Echoing those comments, Maldonado said that “immigrant workers really are the engines of Florida’s economy,” and the new law is “really hitting the communities that run this economy.”