TAMPA, Fla. – A piece of legislation passed by the Senate of Florida that targets illegal workers is on its way to the desk of Governor Ron DeSantis.
Senate Bill 1718 mandates that some commercial and public companies utilize the E-Verify system to determine whether or not their staff members are permitted to work in the United States. Employers who violate the terms of the measure by knowingly taking on illegal workers face the possibility of being penalized or having their company license revoked.
“Employers with more than 25 employees are going to be required to use the E-Verify system to document that their employees are authorized to work in the United States,” stated a local attorney in the Tampa region named Ryan Barack. “And if they don’t do that, and if they have workers who are not documented, they risk fines of up to $1,000 per day.”
In some circumstances, according to Barack, this might result in increased remuneration for workers; but, he notes that this is a sword with two edges.
“If employers are unable to find workers who are willing to work at the low wages that are frequently paid to undocumented workers, it is going to cost more to hire documented workers,” Barack added. “This is because documented workers are entitled to overtime pay.”
It is going to be more expensive to recruit people with proper documentation, and it is going to be more expensive. As a direct result of this, it is quite possible that all of our expenses will go up.
It has been stated by proponents of the measure that it places pressure on broader-scale national immigration concerns at a time when the conclusion of Title 42 is drawing near.
“We continue to provide incentives for people to cross the border illegally,” she said. In the words of Senator Blaise Ingoglia, a Republican representing Spring Hill, “The federal government will never act until the states push back, which is what we are doing now.” “We are trying to coerce them into taking action,” said the speaker.
Those senators who have shown their support for the plan have argued that it will enhance immigration laws by putting external pressure on the federal government.
However, according to Ingoglia, “they are not going to do it unless an external force pushes on them, and that external force is going to be Governor Ron DeSantis and the Florida legislature.”
Nevertheless, according to Arturo Rios, an immigration attorney in the Tampa region, this measure may have unintended consequences.
“We could be looking at anarchy from the standpoint of the available availability of workers that can take over those jobs, especially in Florida,” Rios said. “We could be looking at anarchy.”
“That is such a state where we are so strong agriculturally, where we depend, where we depend on immigrant workers.” [Citation needed] “That is such a state where we depend on immigrant workers.”
Rios believes that the condition of Florida’s economy as a whole may suffer as a consequence of the state’s large number of undocumented employees, who make up a significant portion of the state’s workforce.
“It could have an impact on the farming industry in Florida, as well as the hospitality industry and the construction industry,” added Rios. “I mean, all of those are industries that have traditionally relied on undocumented workers and workers with inadequate documentation,”
Rios said that the scope of this law includes the activities of federal agencies such as the ICE and the Department of Homeland Security.
“I don’t even think it’s one that the federal government would welcome because it interferes with a system that is already very, very well polished and working extremely, extremely well,” Rios said. “The system is already very, very well polished and working extremely, extremely well.”
Rios stated that this plan does not tackle the underlying concerns with immigration, and he contends that a vast majority of immigration difficulties might be remedied by updating current laws rather than by completely reforming the immigration system.
He stated that he fully supports modernizing the legislation that mandates background checks and calls for individuals to have spotless criminal histories in order for them to be allowed to reside legally in the United States.
In addition, the measure makes it illegal for any town, company, or organization to issue identity documents to anyone who cannot provide evidence that they are lawfully present in the United States.
In addition to this, it mandates that healthcare facilities inquire about the citizenship or immigration status of patients.
