Last week, hundreds of people took to the streets in the Tampa, Florida, area and other cities for what was called “a day without immigrants.”
Its goal was to protest legislation signed by Governor Ron DeSantis. His critics say he seeks to discourage anyone in the United States from traveling to Florida illegally and to criminalize anyone who helps undocumented immigrants settle, relocate, and find work. are anti-immigration for.
When he signed the legislation into law, DeSantis explained that it called for different things such as expanding requirements for businesses with more than 25 employees to use E-Verify, a federal system that it Determines whether employees can legally work in the United States.
“If someone knowingly transports illegal aliens to Florida, they can be sentenced to up to five years in prison and fined $5,000,” the governor said. “If you are caught transporting five or more illegal aliens or one lone illegal alien minor or have a prior conviction for human trafficking, you may be fined up to $10,000 and imprisoned for up to 15 years ” And at the end of the day, there wouldn’t be a problem with illegal immigration if it weren’t for the many people who are facilitating it in our country.”
This Monday, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody filed an amended complaint against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Biden administration, challenging their immigration policies.
The complaint alleges that these policies, including the “new parole policy”, have resulted in the large-scale release of aliens at the southwest border, causing hardship and financial burden to the state.
Florida has accused the Biden administration of violating public safety immigration laws and seeking legal action to undermine border security, block the new policy, and overturn DHS’s parole policy.
Florida’s measures to discourage undocumented immigration are considered one of the toughest of any state.
Since the protests began last Thursday, many people in the Tampa area have not turned up for construction or farm work. Dozens of restaurants, stores and other small businesses never opened their doors to demonstrate the potential economic impact Florida could have when the law takes effect in July.
Organizers call the protest “A Day Without Immigrants”, reminiscent of the film a day without Mexicano is a fictional documentary of the beginning of the new century that jokingly addresses the possibility that Mexicans will disappear from the state of California, leaving many services without employees.
This time there were protests in Tampa, Plant City and Wimauma, as well as areas in Manatee and Sarasota counties. People held up signs with the following messages: “Deportation hurts families” and “Keep families together”, among Mexican, Honduran and other flags.
Allie Aguilar said during a protest, “We just want to show our government and Florida, especially in Plant City where their fresh strawberries grow, that we are not here to take people’s jobs.” “We’re here to work hard and do things that other people don’t want to do because of the low pay.”
The bill also strengthens penalties for human trafficking and prosecutes violators under Florida’s RICO law, which DeSantis said was a recommendation of a state grand jury.
“The press is deliberately misrepresenting this distinction between legal and illegal immigration in order to create this kind of outrage based on false grounds,” said Jeremy Redfern, press secretary for DeSantis’ office. “Any business taking advantage of this crisis by employing illegal aliens instead of Floridians will be held accountable. Every country protects its borders and has a sovereign right to do so. Florida’s only land borders are with the states of Georgia and Alabama.
Last month, the Latino civil rights group LULAC issued a travel advisory for Hispanics warning that the new law marginalizes immigrant communities and is unethical.
