Ron DeSantis took the next right turn. In his dogged fight for the Republican presidential nomination, the governor of Florida is courting the favor of the conservatives with a new law – and in doing so is turning the lives of hundreds of thousands of people upside down.
As of Saturday July 1st, Florida has gained more than 200 laws. Conservatives in particular should be happy about the majority of them. For example, supporters of the Second Amendment may henceforth carry their guns in public without permission, training, or background checks. However, a law with the inconspicuous identifier “Senate Bill 1718” peeps out of the mountain of small-small. And that should cause a quake in Florida – and be felt far beyond the borders. It is arguably the toughest immigration law in the United States.
It was suggested by the Reigning Prince himself. The fact that the Sunshine State is increasingly developing into an arch-conservative bunker is part of Ron DeSantis’ national election campaign. Florida’s governor is trying to distinguish himself in the race for the Republican presidential candidacy with maximum severity so as not to be completely left behind by Donald Trump.
SB 1718 could turn the lives of hundreds of thousands of people upside down
SB 1718 is basically a law “intended to prevent people from coming to the state of Florida, and I think it has served its purpose,” Republican Congressman Alina Garcia was quoted as saying by the US news site “Vox”. When the bill went through the two Republican-dominated chambers in May, only a single Conservative voted against it. No wonder, after all, DeSantis is also known among friends for his thirst for revenge.
The left elite in Washington is responsible for the fact that such a bang is necessary at all, DeSantis repeatedly asserted. After all, the Biden administration has done nothing to stem the flow of illegal immigrants. With SB 1718, DeSantis bangs his right fist on the table.
35 pages of text, that’s all the governor needs to turn the lives of hundreds of thousands of people upside down. According to reports, the original design was even more radical.
Here are the five most important points of the “slimmed down” version, which has been valid since Saturday:
- Prosecution of undocumented employees and their employers: Companies with more than 25 employees must check and digitally document the migration status and work authorization of their employees. If they don’t, they face fines of $1,000 a day or even having their business license revoked. In addition, public institutions are allowed to terminate contracts with companies and subcontractors if they can assume that undocumented employees are working there. “Any company that takes advantage of this crisis by employing illegal aliens in place of Floridians will be held accountable,” said DeSantis spokesman Jeremy Redfern.
- Hospitals must ask for migration status: All hospitals that receive Medicaid funds, i.e. participate in the health care program, must collect the migration status of their patients – before treatment. The clinics are obliged to share all relevant data with the health department. Numerous doctors in Florida criticized this sharply, also for cost reasons. They fear people will avoid hospitals out of fear – until their condition is life-threatening. This, in turn, ends up being significantly more expensive.
- driving bans: Anyone who does not have valid papers should no longer be allowed to drive a car in Florida. Even undocumented immigrants who can show a driver’s license from another state are no longer allowed to drive on Florida’s roads, their driver’s license is invalid in the Sunshine State. Anyone who breaks the ban could be arrested.
- Transporting undocumented immigrants is criminalised: The law is also broken by anyone who “knowingly and intentionally” transports undocumented people to, inside or outside of Florida. This is “people smuggling” and is punishable by up to five years in prison. Five or more illegal passengers are even threatened with 15 years in prison. There are no exceptions to the rule – not even for family members.
- No more support for provisional papers: The state prohibits local governments from promoting the issuance of so-called “community identification” cards in the future. These documents entitle Florida residents who do not have state ID to attend community services such as schools, daycare centers, or libraries.
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Of course, these are only the cornerstones of the law. It remains to be seen how the mostly conservative authorities will implement it. Critics also complain that the wording of the law is deliberately vague to give the authorities leeway – or arbitrariness.
Many families now fear being torn apart by detours. Children born in the US are automatically granted citizenship, unlike their parents. “I will not leave my son behind,” CBS News quoted a farm worker as saying. “If I go, my son will come with me.” Incidentally, the same man recently broke his arm and did not go to the hospital for fear that people would ask about his immigration status.
Before the law went into effect, people across the state had taken to the streets to demonstrate. The Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also condemned the law. It will “impair the human rights of thousands of Mexicans, including children,” it said in a statement on Saturday. In May, Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador urged Hispanic Floridians not to vote for DeSantis.
“We work hard in the fields. We pick tomatoes, strawberries, watermelons and oranges, and who’s going to do that now?” asked a 15-year-old co-organizer of a protest in front of the historic Capitol in Tallahassee, according to the AP news agency.
There she has a point. Because SB 1718 not only poses massive problems for immigrants, but also for the Floridian economy as a result. Businesses are already having trouble finding workers. The state rakes in its money primarily in three sectors: tourism, agriculture and construction – all areas that are extremely dependent on cheap labour. About 10 percent of them are said to be undocumented — about 400,000 people, Samuel Vilchez Santiago, director of the American Business Immigration Coalition, told the AP news agency. He is certain that the new law could “actually be devastating”.
Many people would now wait and see how the authorities handle the implementation of the law before making a decision – and possibly turning their backs on Florida forever. “We’re hearing that people are starting to leave,” Yvette Cruz of the Farmworkers Association of Florida told CBS News.
Just a taste of a USA under Ron DeSantis
Ron DeSantis wants to be in the White House. In order for this to work, as many migrants as possible have to get out of Florida, that is apparently part of the absurd calculation. Undocumented migrants are a welcome target – after all, they can’t punish hatred at the ballot box.
In any case, DeSantis has already achieved its goal. For him, SB 1718 is nothing more than a brightly lit billboard. After all, he is desperately (and possibly increasingly desperately) courting the favor of right-wing voters. “Make America Florida” is his motto. As the only real alternative, the 44-year-old wants to show the Trumpists what they can expect from him as US President. In short: He wants to be the “better” Trump. The man who not only talks, but also acts. Because DeSantis must gradually score. current according to polls the challenger is almost 30 percentage points behind Trump.
In the end, SB 1718 is just a taste of America under Ron DeSantis, maybe under Trump too. The battle for America’s conservative soul continues, that’s for sure. And it only takes place on the right wing.
Sources: AP; “CBS News“; “Tampa Bay Times“; “USAToday“; “The Hill“; “vox“; “Newsweek“