Florida’s new anti-immigrant law could be disastrous for the economy

In May, Florida Governor Ron Desantis signed Senate Bill (SB) 1718 into law, a sweeping anti-immigrant legislation that has caused both panic and uncertainty among the state’s immigrant community. The law, which went into effect July 1st of this year, could harm not only undocumented immigrants in the state, but also Florida’s economy.

SB 1718 imposes harsh fines on employers with over 25 employees who do not use E-Verify in an effort to crack down on businesses that hire undocumented workers. Furthermore, it provides additional funding for the state’s controversial “Unauthorized Aliens Transport Program,” which infamously flew asylum seekers from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard under false pretenses. The law even invalidates certain out-of-state drivers licenses, and criminalizes crossing state lines over to Florida with an undocumented family member as “human smuggling.” It is no surprise that the climate of fear fostered by this law has led some immigrants to leave the state entirely.

Undocumented immigrants are an integral part of American communities. According to analysis from the Center for American Progress, there are approximately 512,400 undocumented workers in Florida working to keep the country running in industries such as food supply chain, health care, construction, and the care economy. Each year, they and their households pay $4 billion in federal taxes and $1.7 billion in state and local taxes, and hold a combined spending power of $18.6 billion. On top of their tax contributions, these undocumented workers also buoy the social safety net; their employers annually contribute payroll taxes totaling over $1.2 billion for Social Security and Medicare, for which undocumented immigrants are ineligible. Whether the state’s new E-Verify mandate drives people out of Florida’s workforce or off the books and into the underground economy, the state loses many of these important economic and fiscal contributions.

There are also many industries where undocumented immigrants are overrepresented and make up a large share of the workforce. These industries would likely face major challenges—including worker shortages— if undocumented workers were suddenly prevented from doing their jobs, affecting all Americans. The Florida Policy Institute estimates that without undocumented workers, the state’s most labor-intensive industries would lose 10 percent of their workforce. The loss of these earned wages could lead to a drop of $12.6 billion in Florida’s GDP in just one year — about 1.1% — and, in turn, reduce state and local tax revenue. It’s not hard to imagine this becoming reality. Following the passage of the anti-immigrant bill, viral videos showed nearly desolate construction and agricultural sites.

The reality is that undocumented immigrants play a crucial role in the workforce; attacks on immigrant communities will only hurt the United States. If lawmakers focused their attention on actually fixing our badly broken immigration system, they could boost the economy. Our research shows that providing a pathway to citizenship for all undocumented immigrants in the U.S. would boost the GDP by $1.7 trillion over 10 years, create 438,800 new jobs, and increase wages for all U.S. workers, regardless of immigration status. We should strengthen the economy, fix the faulty immigration system, and honor the contributions of undocumented immigrants, not weaken our economy by needlessly scapegoating immigrant workers.

(*) Laura Rodriguez is the vice president for government affairs at the Center for American Progress.