Is it just me, or are there a lot more cars with license plates from Florida around here? It seems that every time I am on my way home from school, or even out and about in the city, I see at least one car with an orange and green license plate screaming “I’m from Florida.” At first, I didn’t think much of it because, I mean, what if they were visiting family or just wanted to visit our wonderful city of Chicago? But it wasn’t until a couple of days ago that I discovered the actual reason why I have been seeing so many Florida license plates. Their governor Ron DeSantis has just signed into effect what is considered to be “the strongest” anti-immigration bill in our nation, which is not very shocking considering his beliefs; nonetheless, it is very heartbreaking to hear about.
Senate Bill 1718
This Bill was signed a couple of days ago by DeSantis in a bid to try and combat Biden's Border Crisis relief. This bill literally hinders immigrants' ability to basically do anything humanly possible. From making it extremely difficult to seek medical attention to not being able to have a basic form of identification like an ID, this new bill will make it basically impossible to live in Florida, much less seek help when needed. Other things included in this bill are as follows (see the image below):
This Bill was signed a couple of days ago by DeSantis in a bid to try and combat Biden's Border Crisis relief. This bill literally hinders immigrants' ability to basically do anything humanly possible. From making it extremely difficult to seek medical attention to not being able to have a basic form of identification like an ID, this new bill will make it basically impossible to live in Florida, much less seek help when needed. Other things included in this bill are as follows (see the image below):
This is absolutely disgusting. How are you going to deprive a group of people of the ability to work, have an ID, or even seek medical attention all because of some stupid prejudice? Have you ever stopped to consider the lives and feelings of other people other than yours, DeSantis? Probably not, which is why you signed this to begin with.
The Effect
Since the bill's signing it is no surprise that it has been receiving much backlash from the public. Many immigrants have also begun moving out of Florida and moving to sanctuary cities like Chicago in order to reestablish their lives without fear (although that fear never really goes away). I don’t know what Florida is going to do once they realize that they have little to no workers willing to work the jobs many immigrant workers once did before moving elsewhere. In fact, I saw another article about a farm owner talking about how he has had to employ white citizens in order to keep up with product demand. He stated that the new workers, who were white, were working at slower rates in comparison to the previous workers, who were immigrants because they weren't used to the amount of labor or work and expected to leave the fields early in time for “supper time”. What does this imply? The immigrant workers were not only working harder but that they were also working overtime to ensure the work got done.
Since the bill's signing it is no surprise that it has been receiving much backlash from the public. Many immigrants have also begun moving out of Florida and moving to sanctuary cities like Chicago in order to reestablish their lives without fear (although that fear never really goes away). I don’t know what Florida is going to do once they realize that they have little to no workers willing to work the jobs many immigrant workers once did before moving elsewhere. In fact, I saw another article about a farm owner talking about how he has had to employ white citizens in order to keep up with product demand. He stated that the new workers, who were white, were working at slower rates in comparison to the previous workers, who were immigrants because they weren't used to the amount of labor or work and expected to leave the fields early in time for “supper time”. What does this imply? The immigrant workers were not only working harder but that they were also working overtime to ensure the work got done.
The Consequence
In response to this new bill being passed, many truck drivers are refusing to take any shipments or produce to Florida in a bid to protest the new anti-immigration regulations. This platform, not surprisingly, is being shared through social media, where many truck drivers are seen posting and reposting videos and posts about not accepting shipments to Florida.
DeSantis has some serious thinking to do in terms of the big problem he just created for himself and the state of Florida. If people aren’t working as fast as they need to in order to keep up with the demand for produce, it won’t be long before prices go up. This also means that it might get increasingly difficult to obtain necessities because there would be fewer shipments of those necessities due to the truck protests.
Sadly, this isn’t the last time we’ll see anti-immigration sentiments at this level, as people like this will always exist. If anything, this new law just opened the doors for other states to do the same with their own immigration laws. I honestly find this whole situation ironic. For a country founded for immigrants by immigrants, people aren’t very welcoming or accepting of other immigrants. Has history taught us nothing? It’s funny how a land built by the sacrifice of other immigrants (Latino, Asian, Black, etc…) still fails to acknowledge the main reason why America has been as successful as it has been.
Hopefully, a new amnesty bill for immigrants will get passed in the next couple of years to help, at the very least, more people gain legal status in America along with the stability and security that comes with it. But until that happens, do your part and stay well informed. If you see something (such as discrimination), say something! If new information about helping immigration comes out, share it! If possible, donate to organizations helping immigrant people in America by donating food, clothes, or even by volunteering. Until then I only have one thing to say…
Florida… GET IT TOGETHER!
In response to this new bill being passed, many truck drivers are refusing to take any shipments or produce to Florida in a bid to protest the new anti-immigration regulations. This platform, not surprisingly, is being shared through social media, where many truck drivers are seen posting and reposting videos and posts about not accepting shipments to Florida.
DeSantis has some serious thinking to do in terms of the big problem he just created for himself and the state of Florida. If people aren’t working as fast as they need to in order to keep up with the demand for produce, it won’t be long before prices go up. This also means that it might get increasingly difficult to obtain necessities because there would be fewer shipments of those necessities due to the truck protests.
Sadly, this isn’t the last time we’ll see anti-immigration sentiments at this level, as people like this will always exist. If anything, this new law just opened the doors for other states to do the same with their own immigration laws. I honestly find this whole situation ironic. For a country founded for immigrants by immigrants, people aren’t very welcoming or accepting of other immigrants. Has history taught us nothing? It’s funny how a land built by the sacrifice of other immigrants (Latino, Asian, Black, etc…) still fails to acknowledge the main reason why America has been as successful as it has been.
Hopefully, a new amnesty bill for immigrants will get passed in the next couple of years to help, at the very least, more people gain legal status in America along with the stability and security that comes with it. But until that happens, do your part and stay well informed. If you see something (such as discrimination), say something! If new information about helping immigration comes out, share it! If possible, donate to organizations helping immigrant people in America by donating food, clothes, or even by volunteering. Until then I only have one thing to say…
Florida… GET IT TOGETHER!
