Workers pick tomatoes at a farm owned and operated by Pacific Tomato Growers on February 19, 2021, in Immokalee. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Gov. Ron DeSantis and his abettors in the Legislature have been at each other’s throats, trying to see who can summon up the most repulsive legislation to further punish undocumented immigrants in the Sunshine State and shamelessly take credit for it.
They’ve settled on a common approach now, but DeSantis was steaming after House Speaker Daniel Perez and Senate President Ben Albritton ignored his instruction for them to meet in special session to pass a migrant crackdown. They convened as ordered but promptly adjourned without acting and gaveled in their own session, passing their own version.
“… In a big about-face, the Legislature shifted authority over state-level immigration enforcement from the governor to the commissioner of agriculture, which is currently held by Wilton Simpson, a Trilby Republican,” as the Florida USA Today Network put it.
In a new special session that began on Tuesday, the governor and legislative leaders agreed to accept many of the Legislature’s proposals, including money to hire new law enforcement officers and bonuses for those who help federal enforcement officers, adding a provision making it a crime to enter Florida without the legal documents.
Additionally, the Florida Cabinet, comprising independently elected state officials — the state attorney general, chief financial officer, and agriculture commissioner — will together supervise immigration enforcement.
Will that make the bad blood go away? Miffed at the Legislature’s original plan, DeSantis had, for days, bitterly denounced his antagonists. On social media, he beat up Simpson, saying he has “voted to give drivers licenses and in-state tuition to illegals.” He also took to national conservative media outlets to blast Simpson, as well as Albritton and Perez.
And in a post on X and elsewhere DeSantis said he intends to unleash the financial power of the Florida Freedom Fund, a political committee he used in 2024 to grease the wheels in ways that helped spread lies and disinformation leading to the defeat of constitutional amendments on abortion rights and recreational marijuana.
Sidling up to Trump
Both sides are working overtime to sidle up to “47” — bend the knee and secure his blessing for the most inhumane and odious laws in an effort to show how tough on immigration these people are.
This activity comes against the backdrop of a dizzying array of actions against undocumented immigrants locally and nationally. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has dramatically stepped up arrests and detentions all over Florida, including Miramar, Fort Lauderdale, and Miami plus Escambia, Indian River, Leon, and Santa Rosa counties.
Despite Donald Trump publicly calling for Dreamers to be protected during these immigration sweeps, legislators have added uncertainty for these young people — about 6,000 in number — by trying to more than triple the tuition they pay to attend a Florida public college or university.
Nationally, allies of Trump are deeply involved in speeding up asylum hearings, rolling back eligibility to remain here, and removing a raft of deportation protections implemented by President Joe Biden.
Outside of the sheer malice and vindictiveness of DeSantis and the Legislature, their heartlessness towards undocumented immigrants will have far-reaching economic consequences across the state. It’s aggravating to see Florida Republicans being so bearish on an issue that continues to damage the state’s agriculture, construction, and hospitality industries.
When DeSantis engineered a draconian bill targeting immigrants in 2023, farm owners and migrant activists agreed the effects of the law were immediate. Families who had worked in Florida for 20 years and more voted with their feet and fled the state. Severe labor shortages meant fruits and vegetables went unpicked and rotting, with prices ratcheting upwards.
According to the Florida Policy Institute, the 2023 immigration law could cost the state economy as much as $12.6 billion in its first year.
Mari Marks, advocacy and policy manager for the Council on American-Islamic Relations Florida chapter, outlined how much the state depends on immigrant labor in a column for the Tallahassee Democrat.
“The Florida economy depends on workers in the agriculture, service and hospitality sectors. The Migration Policy Institute reports there is an estimated 455,000 undocumented immigrants working in Florida, who are currently employed,” Marks wrote.
“What would happen if these workers suddenly disappeared out of our workforce? I’ll tell you. A state that prides themselves on tourism would be in serious jeopardy. These jobs are not being stolen by undocumented workers; they are holes being filled in our society, jobs most Americans would not dream of taking.”
Ignoring immigration’s benefits
A favorite, yet tired, canard that American tax dollars are unfairly being taken to pay for the livelihoods of these asylees and undocumented workers Marks characterizes as a lie.
“The new inconvenient truth is that they play a significant role in the success of this country,” she wrote.
In 2022, Marks added (citing the American Immigration Council), 747,000 documented and undocumented immigrants paid an estimated $1.8 billion in local and state taxes, contributing $27 billion in consumer spending.
In addition, these human beings “are shopping in your stores, eating in your restaurants, renting houses from you, buying cars, buying gas, paying out of pocket for medical appointments, braces for their children, attending shows, movies, concerts, playing sports with your kids, shopping at your grocery stores, worshipping and paying tithes in your churches, getting haircuts. … The list goes on and on,” Marks wrote.
Despite being scapegoated by DeSantis, immigrants in Florida have contributed tens of billions of dollars in taxes. For example, immigrant-led households in the state paid $23.2 billion in federal taxes and $8.5 billion in state and local taxes in 2018. In addition, in 2018, undocumented immigrants in Florida paid an estimated $1.3 billion in federal taxes and $588.3 million in state and local taxes, according to the American Immigration Council.
Marks and other observers warn that Florida is already in trouble and it’s about to get considerably worse.
“This state is not in trouble because of undocumented human beings who give their all to our society, it is because politicians who ignore the real needs and crises, in favor of political stunts,” she concluded.
Even as lawmakers poison the water for those seeking solace in Florida, activists and advocates who see the train hurtling towards chaos have questions:
Who will plant and harvest, wash clothes, cut lawns, clean hotels, help raise children? What will happen to the next generation of lawyers, doctors, and professionals? How will the state fill the labor gap and replace the money lost?
YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE.