Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has signed a new anti-illegal immigration bill, Senate Bill 1718, to crack down on those working without proper documentation and impose stricter penalties on human traffickers.
The legislation, which takes effect on July 1, makes Florida the largest state in the nation to make the migrant worker detection system, E-Verify, mandatory. Governor DeSantis expects the new law to "make a big, big difference."
The new legislation imposes fines of up to $10,000 and license revocation on businesses with more than twenty-five employees who knowingly hire illegal migrants. Civilians who assist illegal migrants could also face felony charges.
While working without proper documentation has long been illegal, enforcement has been difficult in most parts of the country. The new E-Verify system, however, allows the government to keep tabs on employees by comparing I-9 form information provided by an employer with Department of Homeland Security records and the Social Security Administration to "confirm employment eligibility."
The law also requires hospitals to track how many patients are in the country illegally and prohibits counties from issuing IDs to undocumented migrants. Those engaged in human trafficking will also face much harsher penalties. Anyone caught smuggling a minor, or more than five people into the state will have committed a third-degree felony. The sentence also applies to any trafficker with a prior conviction for such a crime.
Governor DeSantis explained that "people are gonna come if they get benefits," The new law aims to remove benefits for those who come to the state illegally.
"You're either here as a native, or you come legally, those are two fine things, but to come across the border and end up getting benefits in Florida does not make sense," he said. He also stated that "at the end of the day, you wouldn't have the illegal immigration problem if you didn't have a lot of people who were facilitating this in our country."
"In Florida," Governor DeSantis stated, "we're doing it legal and we're doing it right." The new law is expected to significantly impact illegal immigration in the state, and Governor DeSantis hopes that other states will follow Florida's lead in implementing stricter measures to combat illegal immigration.
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