Florida Businesses Strike Over Anti-Immigration Law

The Tallahassee Democrat reports:

Protests are planned across six Florida cities and some businesses across the state are shutting their doors Thursday in opposition to a tough, new immigration law pushed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is campaigning this week in Iowa and New Hampshire. The measure, which takes effect July 1, is considered among the toughest steps taken by any state to deter illegal aliens. But it has been condemned by critics as cruel and potentially leading to law enforcement profiling.

The Florida law strengthens employment requirements and allows state law enforcement officials to conduct random audits of businesses suspected of hiring undocumented workers. Hospitals would be required to track how much money is spent on undocumented immigrants in emergency rooms. Hospitals also would be required to ask patients about whether they are in the country legally, a standard opponents say will discourage many people from seeking health care.

Read the full article. Among the businesses cited in the piece as closing today are restaurants, taco trucks, painters, and drywall installers. For weeks Florida outlets have reported on abandoned construction sites and farm fields with few workers.

Florida’s new immigration law has been condemned by critics as cruel and potentially leading to law enforcement profiling. https://t.co/dpDRp4Tkf3

— Sarasota Herald-Tribune (@HeraldTribune) May 31, 2023