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The new law that will prohibit hiring undocumented immigrants in Florida, which comes into effect next July, has aroused concern in that state due to its possible effects on the labor market.
Hundreds of people, most of them Latino families with children, participated on Saturday, May 27, 2023, in a march to reject the immigration law that will come into effect next July in Florida, whose promoter is Governor Ron DeSantis, who aspires to run for the White House in 2024.
In one of the stages, the protesters gathered in a square in front of the municipal government headquarters with banners reading “Our economy depends on immigrants”, “I am a worker, not a criminal” and “We produce for the wealth of this country”.
The new law not only penalizes companies that employ undocumented immigrants with heavy fines, but also family members or other people who help them, does not recognize licenses to drive vehicles issued by more benevolent states, and forces medical centers to ask for a patient’s immigration status for registration.
The impact on the state’s economy
According to the first estimates of the Florida Policy Institute (FPI) on the economic impact of the new immigration law in Florida, which penalizes the hiring of migrants without documents, the sectors and activities most affected would be: construction, professional services, retail trade and agriculture. , among others.
Consulted by France 24, Julio Sevilla, a business professor at the University of Georgia, warned that there may be a shortage of labor. “The United States already has a labor shortage, there are about 10 million job openings that are open,” said the expert.
The professor also estimates that “the economic growth of Florida can be affected, but also the prices of products, and it can bring higher inflation because the majority of undocumented immigrants generally do the jobs that others do not want to do.”
In fact, the FPI estimates that the trades that demand the most immigrant labor represent 25% of Florida’s GDP. The same institute estimates that the new labor restrictions, which force companies to verify the immigration status of their employees, could cost that state around $12.6 billion in a year.
With EFE, Reuters and local media
