Florida law puts a brake on hiring of undocumented workers
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Benjamin Perez cleans houses in Miami for a living. Like tens of thousands of others in the Florida workforce, he toils without legal papers.
The future of this off-the-books labor force today sits in limbo due to a recently approved immigration law.
Conservative Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on May 10 signed what he called the "strongest anti-illegal immigration bill in the nation" to bar undocumented workers from taking jobs in the southern US state.
Starting July 1, businesses with 25 or more employees will be required to use the federal E-Verify system to check the legal status of all new employees.
Businesses would face heavy fines for defying the law and employing undocumented migrants.
Perez, 40, has lived and worked in the United States for two decades but finds his future uncertain. He left his native Mexico looking to earn more as a skilled mason. An injury caused him to change jobs.
He lives in downtown Miami with his Nicaraguan wife and a nephew of hers, Joel Altamirano. All three work. None of them enjoy legal status.
"For those of us who come without papers, the desire to work remains but the paths to finding a job have become narrower," says Perez, who asked to use a pseudonym lest migratory authorities catch him.
"The American Dream is just that -- a dream," he adds. "The government corners us more each day. This time, it is without mercy. We practically are worthless."
- 'Devastating effects' –
Florida, the third most-populous US state, has 22.2 million residents, and 772,000 of them are undocumented migrants, according to the Migration Policy Institute think tank.
Many of them work in vital sectors of the state economy such as agriculture, construction and hospitality.
Blocking them will have severe economic consequences, warns Samuel Vilchez, director in Florida of the American Business Immigration Coalition, which advocates for better integration of migrants in the economy.
"It really targets our businesses and hinders them from their ability to create new jobs... and provide the services they're seeking to provide," Vilchez said.
"It goes against what we know is good for the economy, and it will have devastating effects on Florida."
According to the Florida Policy Institute, the state's economy could potentially drop by $12.6 billion, or 1.1 percent, if all undocumented workers were removed from payrolls. Florida also would face losses in state and local tax revenue and reduced overall economic activity.
Uncertainty created by the new law already ripples at job sites even though it has yet to go into effect and does not apply to existing employees or mandate that known undocumented workers be turned in.
"Where I work, a lot of people have left. They've moved to other states. There's a lot of fear about the law," says Altamirano (another pseudonym), a 38-year-old construction worker.
- 'Unfair' –
DeSantis, who looks likely to challenge former president Donald Trump for the 2024 Republican nomination, has gained traction by pushing a conservative agenda on issues like education, abortion and illegal immigration.
Last week, he accused Democratic President Joe Biden of "reckless border policies" and touted the new law as a tool to combat crime and drug trafficking associated with illegal immigration.
Perez and Altamirano deplore the fact that authorities lump them in with criminals, and complain that they are victims of DeSantis's political ambitions.
"All the politicians want their share of the cake and we pay the cost," Perez says. "We came here to work, send money to our families, spend it here and pay taxes. This is unfair."
If the law prevents them from holding jobs, they say they will leave Florida and start from scratch elsewhere in the United States. They will adapt, once again.
Returning to their home countries is not in their plans. Family members rely on their remittances and, in Altamirano's case, returning to live under Daniel Ortega's authoritarian government in Nicaragua is untenable.
Perez dreams that the country where he has toiled for so many years would one day officially recognize his presence.
"For the United States, we don't exist," he says.
"The United States was built by people from all over, and I am one of them."
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Have to laugh my butt off at the hate-spinners here/out there.
The "new" requirement for E-verification that DeSantis has placed on Florida employers with over 25 workers is already being used by 22 states AND it is highly recommended by two immigrations laws, one from 1984 (Immigration Reform and Control Act) and the other from 1996 (Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigration Responsibility Act).
The "requirement/suggestion" of use of the E-verify in contained in the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act (ICRA).
Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, requirements come out of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA). IRCA prohibits employers from hiring and employing an individual for employment in the U.S. knowing that the individual is not authorized with respect to such employment. Employers also are prohibited from continuing to employ an individual knowing that he or she is unauthorized for employment. This law also prohibits employers from hiring any individual, including a U.S. citizen, for employment in the U.S. without verifying his or her identity and employment authorization on Form I-9.
Issued by the federal government's office of Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the I-9 form is a declaration that an individual is legally eligible to work in the United States . In addition to a worker's contact information and signed attestation of eligibility, it specifies the type (citizen, non-citizen, lawful permanent resident, or alien authorized to work) of employment eligibility along with details of the proof of eligibility presented. Official documentation, such as a passport, Permanent Resident Card, Social Security card, driver's license, and others must be presented as proof. Virtually all employees must have a properly completed I-9 form on file .
So, what is "E-verify"? Since the mid-1980s, the Employment Eligibility Verification Form (commonly known as the I-9) has been required by the United States government to ensure employees are authorized to work here and to verify their identities. The E-Verify process is designed to identify any mismatches between I-9 form information and other records to help reduce the number of unauthorized or undocumented workers. Failure to comply with federal I-9 documentation regulations can expose an employer to fines of up to $5,500 per ineligible worker and other penalties .
The E-Verify system is an online system with the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that rapidly compares employers' I-9 data with other government records from such agencies as the DHS and the Social Security Administration to determine each employee's eligibility to work in the US. Results are generally provided immediately, indicating whether an employee is authorized or not. In some cases, further investigation is needed and additional details may be required to complete the verification process.
So Nay-Sayers - ALL employers are REQUIRED to complete the I-9 to verify someone is LEGALLY allowed to work in the U.S. All the E-verify form does is substantiate the information provided on the I-9 is accurate and up-to-date.
Follow the law Bennie and other Illegal Aliens - get authorization from USCIS to work in the U.S. and you won't have any issues.
But, most importantly, ENTER THE U.S. LEGALLY.
Boo Hoo. He should have entered the US LEGALLY. Then this wouldn't be an issue.
Evidently what those two haven't quite figured out is that - a "criminal" is someone who commits a crime.
Ya think crossing into the U.S. ILLEGALLY isn't a crime folks????
Interesting to me Jeremy is that there are "reportedly" 772K Illegal Aliens in Florida.
I would consider that a serious problem.
DeSantis didn't think it was a serious problem after he became Governor. He campaigned on having every company will have to use E verify. After he and the Florida legislature crafted the new bill, lo and behold the E verify only pertained to companies doing business with the state of Florida. Of course, this was after big Ag made select comments about the bill.
Now that he is running for president he switched horses so now it's all companies with more than 25 employees. Some parts of the bill were removed with the religious community (RCC) complaining that they were un Christian.
So, IMO another populist presidential candidate pandering to the bright toy of the moment.
They only become a problem when it interferes with Democrats. Look at Chicago, D.C., Martha's Vineyard. They were all for illegals until they showed up at their doorstep. Then they shipped them off to be somebody else's problem.
God forbid a Republican ship them off. That's human trafficking.
So what you are saying is that he campaigned on something that is a requirement to ensure that employees are LEGALLY in this country? Kind of like what he's ensuring today?
Not what I said. He campaigned in 2018 for governor of Florida by saying that if he was elected he would make it mandatory in Florida that ALL employers had to use E verify. Once elected the bill that was written by the Florida legislature and endorsed and signed by DeSantis exempted most all employers in Florida the only companies affected under the law passed were companies doing business with the state of Florida. Of course, some of his biggest donors were big agri and service-connected employers which the majority of illegals work for in Florida. So it is quite evident to see that all of a sudden having 3/4 of a million illegals in Florida wasn't that important to him, the donors/money was.
Now that he is in his second term and limited out as governor of Florida and will be running for president of the US the shiny toy is back in play thus his new law which required some parts of it be dropped as being too draconian is, as I stated in my previous comment.
'' So, IMO another populist presidential candidate pandering to the bright toy of the moment.''
I hope that clears it up for you.
:
That's exactly what you said. Or didn't you know E-Verify has been a requirement since 1996 and it's objective was to verify that employees were in the country legally and permitted to work? That is was a REQUIREMENT for employers to use? Of course you didn't. Or better yet, you knew it and just wanted to rant on something, anything. And for what? Because he's shown what an embarrassment Geriatric Joe's administration is?
OK - well, E-verify has been "required" on all "Fed government contracts" since 1986/1996, but only "recommended" for non-Fed contracts. However, 22 states have also made it a mandatory requirement.
DeSantis kinda left a H-H-U-U-G-G-E-E loophole in his law. He is gonna require all employers with 25 or more employees to utilize E-verify. Guess he kinda forgot that the vast majority of businesses in FL are Mom and Pop, i.e. less than 25 employees, and they hire more temp employees than the big guys do. The Mom and Pop stores, with their smaller employee staff, are the ones who are hiring the "Illegal Aliens" because they can pay them less, they keep their mouths shut and there are so damn many of them.
Wonder how he's gonna fix that?
What BS nonsense you're spewing. Florida/DeSantis exempted the vast majority of Florida businesses from E verify by law in 2020.
It sounds like you intend to be ignorant of the facts or perhaps just being willfully ignorant, either way, your bluster is BS.
He may be counting on the fact that these Mom and Pop businesses are slowly being phased out by the larger corporations. It may take a while, but it is what it is. There are a few different ways to ensure only those legally here are hired in the interim.
Link?
I'm not one of you.
Anyone with half a brain knows that he isn't going to fix it.
Immigration hardline groups complain that it doesn’t go far enough. The 25-worker threshold for compliance would exempt 56 percent of the state’s illegal workers from being flagged, the Center for Immigration Studies contended.
The big companies relying on undocumented labor will just reorganize their workforce into sub-contractor groups of fewer than 25 workers to sidestep the law, critics say.
No doubt from your lack of facts on your comments it's crystal clear you aren't.
ATTA BOY!!!! Now if you would have only done that in the first place...
Now, apparently you didn't read your link.
So, as he campaigned on, he wanted the use of E-verify. And as expected, Democrats opposed it. Wonder why that is...
Also, did you note the date on your link? It's 2020. Didn't he campaign on the use of E-verify in 2018?
Try harder next time you want to pass bullshit as fact.
You mean the ones you claim as false but haven't proven any as such? But then again you are part of the group here that thinks Biden and the Democrats are doing "just fine".
I guess that you're the one with a reading problem.
Here is who gutted the bill in 2020. A republican.
You should try harder to understand the written word, but that seems to be above your pay grade.
And there you go again, blowing smoke when the facts are right in front of you.
Some people got no game.
So. The campaign in 2018 on something that was already a requirement. Now you present 3 articles dated ~2 years after the fact to back up your claims. None of which show the original requirement, that DeSantis ran on, was "gutted" in any way. It was only at the state level.
Do better.
way overdue
"Uncertainty created by the new law already ripples at job sites even though it has yet to go into effect and does not apply to existing employees or mandate that known undocumented workers be turned in."
Doesn't off the books imply that no state or Federal taxes are being paid? Since he's lived here for two decades perhaps he should seek a way to rectify the situation instead of claiming victimhood.
But, But, But we are told they do pay taxes. Okay so some of them do but how many don't and STILL get the bennies of being in the US?
It should be illegal to rent to illegals or for them to buy property, open bank accounts.
Unfortunately it isn't.