Man, I get policy hypocrisy is catnip to investigative journalism, I really do, but I wish people would think about where this "FL Republicans aren't REALLY serious about e-verify" gotcha goes: the Democratic FL senate minority leader offering amendments to make this gross immigration bill even MORE punitive, to make it literally impossible for anyone the federal government has denied or will soon strip of status to work ANY new job in this state.
Democrats wrote amendments to save in-state tuition for student who came to the US as children, no where did I see any Democrats trying to make this bill worse for undocumented immigrants.
This is the response from the Democratic Party of Florida;
“Donald Trump and Florida Republicans have completely betrayed our communities,” said FDP Chair Nikki Fried. “Today, the Florida Legislature passed the most extreme anti-immigration legislation in the country, which creates a new state crime that will make it easier to target immigrants and kicks Dreamers out of college. Families will be separated, students will be saddled with debt and fear will fracture our communities.
“Following weeks of internal infighting and grandstanding, Republicans rushed to create legislation that will have serious and immediate consequences for Floridians — and a nearly $300 million dollar price tag. These bills won’t solve anything — they will only hurt people and ruin lives. It’s time for Congress to pass real immigration reforms that protect our economy, keep our communities safe and create legal pathways to citizenship for immigrants who have lived and worked here for decades.”
And I mean, I don't think Mr. Garcia actually thinks the fix to the unjust system we've set up—where many/most jobs require an employer to confirm that the federal government has granted people permission to work while at the same time that federal government just refuses to grant millions of people permission to work—is to further reduce the number and quality of jobs available to people without permission from the federal government to work, as opposed to simply giving more people permission to work. I gather it's just the hypocrisy of Republicans pretending they don't have material and political crosspressures in the state that irks him.
But the ranking elected state Democrat and putative frontrunner for their 2026 gubernatorial nomination? Just go to his social media and figure out if he cares more about restoring affordable college to Dreamers, or to making it harder for people without EADs to find work in order to prove that "Republicans are supposed to be tough on illegal immigration. Not in Florida."
"no where did I see any Democrats trying to make this bill worse for undocumented immigrants"
Amendment 885906, offered by minority leader Pizzo, as mentioned in this Seeking Rents episode, proposed to extend required explicit confirmation of federal work authorization through E-Verify, which was implemented for some private employers in 2023 by the anti-immigrant SB1718, to ALL employers hiring workers in the state.
Our existing immigration laws makes professional life precarious for people who can't get work authorization as it is; if that amendment had been accepted and the bill amended, the only employment available to people who do not have or will soon be stripped of their immigration status would be with employers already inclined to knowingly break employment laws.
FK Desantis! And his wife and girlfriend too!
Thank you
Man, I get policy hypocrisy is catnip to investigative journalism, I really do, but I wish people would think about where this "FL Republicans aren't REALLY serious about e-verify" gotcha goes: the Democratic FL senate minority leader offering amendments to make this gross immigration bill even MORE punitive, to make it literally impossible for anyone the federal government has denied or will soon strip of status to work ANY new job in this state.
Democrats wrote amendments to save in-state tuition for student who came to the US as children, no where did I see any Democrats trying to make this bill worse for undocumented immigrants.
This is the response from the Democratic Party of Florida;
“Donald Trump and Florida Republicans have completely betrayed our communities,” said FDP Chair Nikki Fried. “Today, the Florida Legislature passed the most extreme anti-immigration legislation in the country, which creates a new state crime that will make it easier to target immigrants and kicks Dreamers out of college. Families will be separated, students will be saddled with debt and fear will fracture our communities.
“Following weeks of internal infighting and grandstanding, Republicans rushed to create legislation that will have serious and immediate consequences for Floridians — and a nearly $300 million dollar price tag. These bills won’t solve anything — they will only hurt people and ruin lives. It’s time for Congress to pass real immigration reforms that protect our economy, keep our communities safe and create legal pathways to citizenship for immigrants who have lived and worked here for decades.”
And I mean, I don't think Mr. Garcia actually thinks the fix to the unjust system we've set up—where many/most jobs require an employer to confirm that the federal government has granted people permission to work while at the same time that federal government just refuses to grant millions of people permission to work—is to further reduce the number and quality of jobs available to people without permission from the federal government to work, as opposed to simply giving more people permission to work. I gather it's just the hypocrisy of Republicans pretending they don't have material and political crosspressures in the state that irks him.
But the ranking elected state Democrat and putative frontrunner for their 2026 gubernatorial nomination? Just go to his social media and figure out if he cares more about restoring affordable college to Dreamers, or to making it harder for people without EADs to find work in order to prove that "Republicans are supposed to be tough on illegal immigration. Not in Florida."
"no where did I see any Democrats trying to make this bill worse for undocumented immigrants"
Amendment 885906, offered by minority leader Pizzo, as mentioned in this Seeking Rents episode, proposed to extend required explicit confirmation of federal work authorization through E-Verify, which was implemented for some private employers in 2023 by the anti-immigrant SB1718, to ALL employers hiring workers in the state.
Our existing immigration laws makes professional life precarious for people who can't get work authorization as it is; if that amendment had been accepted and the bill amended, the only employment available to people who do not have or will soon be stripped of their immigration status would be with employers already inclined to knowingly break employment laws.