Among his other recent high-profile and incendiary policy moves, Florida GOP Governor Ron DeSantis has signed a sweeping package of new rules around the state’s treatment of undocumented immigrants. The bill, among other measures, demands employers of a certain size participate in a federal system for verifying eligibility to work and even includes demands for healthcare facilities to collect data on the costs of providing care for undocumented immigrants, with the obviously underlying aim of trying to cultivate negative associations in the minds of residents.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) recently highlighted on Twitter how there have recently been discussions on social media in favor of the idea of boycotting economic interactions with Florida. “Anti-immigrant policies reap what they sow,” the Democratic Congresswoman said online on Saturday. “DeSantis’ Florida is about to find that out. The US has such deep needs right now, particularly in labor. Yet policymakers (of ALL stripes) take our immigrant communities for granted. No más. Time to stop biting the hands that feed.”
Republicans continue pushing rhetoric around the border that is just utterly ridiculous, including the idea the southern border is “open,” as they call it. “In Florida, we will not stand idly by while the federal government abandons its lawful duties to protect our country,” DeSantis said around the signing of his controversial legislation targeting migrants, which is a blatantly inaccurate description of events. It’s just not true either that the border is open or that the Biden administration is “abandoning” its duties. DeSantis’s new bill also specifically blocks the usage in Florida of driver licenses issued for an undocumented immigrant in some other state, no matter, it seems, whether that other jurisdiction would itself have allowed the individual to obtain the identification materials and associated privileges without a problem.
Anti-immigrant policies reap what they sow. DeSantis’ Florida is about to find that out.
The US has such deep needs right now, particularly in labor. Yet policymakers (of ALL stripes) take our immigrant communities for granted.
No más. Time to stop biting the hands that feed. https://t.co/FVGRjDr6BR
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) May 13, 2023
