Concern grows over immigration bill moving in the Florida Legislature
MIAMI - Close to becoming Florida law, a bill requiring workers to ask for immigration status of their employees and hospitals asking patients if they are legal in the US.
On Friday, a bill that would directly affect undocumented immigrants is being considered in the Florida House and agricultural workers and immigration activists in South Florida are very concerned.
"We won't be able to work because we can't show proof of a legal status," said Elizabeth Sanchez. She is an agricultural worker in South Florida concerned about the senate's vote on SB1718 in Tallahassee.
"People are already going back to their countries or moving to other states," said Sanchez, who works at a nursery in SW Miami Dade picking fruits.
Senate Bill 1718 approved by 27 votes against 10 in the Florida Senate, states:
- All businesses with 25 or more employees to use the federal E-verify system to check the immigration status of workers
- Counties and municipalities are prohibited from issuing identification to undocumented immigrants
- Hospitals are required to ask patients about whether they are U.S. citizens or are in the country legally. They would also be required to submit reports about the responses to the state.
"What we just passed in the Senate is inhumane," said Miami Democrat State Senator Shevrin Jones. He says he is totally against the bill.
"Governor DeSantis and my Republican colleagues, they continue to show that they are more focused on attacking and vilifying immigrants and Latinos to advance their political agenda."
Republican State Senator Ana Maria Rodriguez disagrees with Jones' hypothesis, "It's important to address that Florida is not a sanctuary state, and we believe in legal migration."
"If the bill moves forward, it will actually harm the immigrant workers' safety," said Yomaris Toro, from We Count, an organization of agricultural, construction and domestic workers in South Florida.
She is concerned because there is a similar initiative in the House of Representatives: HB 1617.
The majority-controlled legislature seeks to approve both bills before the legislative session is over in May, so the initiatives become law.
"We know that if immigrant workers do not have any documentation to provide in hospitals, it is not safe for them to go to a hospital," said Toro. However, Senator Rodriguez insists that no undocumented immigrant should fear deportation, "just because of going to a hospital, that is not going to happen."
The bill is a priority for Governor Ron DeSantis, who criticizes the federal government's policy on undocumented immigrants coming to the U.S.
The bill for the House, which is almost identical to the one approved by the Senate, could be on the floor for a vote as soon as next week.
If approved, it goes to Governor DeSantis and once he signs it, the law would become effective on July 1st of 2023.
