Democrats, corporate media, and progressive activists are trying to claim that Florida’s economy will be damaged — and should be boycotted — by the state’s new pro-American reform policy of excluding illegal migrants.
“DeSantis has declared war against immigrant workers in Florida,” Rep. Darren Soto (D-FL) told the Hill. “Their exodus could bring our tourism, agriculture and construction industries to a grinding halt.”
“As a result of this for only the second time in LULAC [League of United Latin American Citizens] history, we’re issuing a travel advisory for anybody traveling to Florida,” Domingo Garcia, president of the pro-migration group, said on May 17.
But the call for a boycott “is yet another stunt,” responded Jeremy Redfern, the press secretary for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. He added:
Just this afternoon, the governor announced that Florida had a record quarter in tourism with 37.9 million visitors and has the lowest unemployment rate amongst the 10 largest states in the nation.
Supporters of the new law — such as the governor’s former press secretary, Christina Pushaw — are pushing back
DeSantis is on safe political ground because many polls show that strong majorities of Americans — including Democrats and American Latinos — want better protection from illegal migration.
But the Democrats’ emotional criticism is fueled by DeSantis’ planned campaign for the presidency.
A New York Times report described a May 18 phone call between Desantis and his supporters:
Mr. DeSantis talked with pride about the Florida legislative session and the state’s budget, walking through a list of items that he was happy to have accomplished on environmental issues and education. He described a “great body of work” and said he would not “cede any issues to the left.”
The partisan criticism accelerated after DeSantis signed the sweeping reforms on May 1o, when DeSantis said:
Nobody has a right to immigrate to this country. We determine as Americans what type of immigration system benefits our country, but when you’re doing immigration, it’s not for their benefit as foreigners, it’s for your benefit as Americans.
So if there’s legal immigration that’s harming Americans, we shouldn’t do that either. For example, some of these H-1B visas, they would fire American tech workers and hire foreigners at lower wages. I don’t agree with that. I think that’s wrong.
DeSantis’ reforms are expected to raise Americans’ wages in the state where half of the households earn less than $58,000 per year. The reforms will also spur productivity-boosting investment by companies and even slow the rising cost of housing. A similar 2004 reform law in Arizona produced similar benefits for Arizonans.
The likely pocketbook benefits of the law for voters are pressuring Democrats to escalate their rhetoric — and a Never Trump group that opposes DeSantis is also joining the criticism:
The criticism is being pushed and magnified by pro-migration media outlets.
A May 17 headline at MSNBC.com declared, “In DeSantis’ fight against woke, Florida may instead go broke.” The post continued:
Last week, Desantis signed a vile and inhumane immigration bill imposing penalties and restrictions on undocumented immigrants in Florida that, among other things, bans local governments from issuing identification cards for people who can’t prove citizenship.
…
A state like Florida without farming, construction and hospitality doesn’t sound much like Florida now, does it? Wait until the economy comes to a screeching halt.
“In Florida, agricultural workers are fearful and brace for changes under new immigration law,” said a May 18 NBC report, which added:
Elvira Cepeda, a grower in Homestead, [Fla.] said she was having difficulty finding farmworkers to harvest crops after the new law was signed. She said fearful workers haven’t stopped calling her about it and have told her they’re contemplating leaving the state.
“South Florida’s economy here in Homestead is agriculture. Most of them we know are undocumented. Who’s going to harvest?” Cepeda told Noticias Telemundo in Spanish.
The critics are broadcasting videos where illegal migrants are quitting construction worksites — and creating better-paid work opportunities for Florida voters:
Vox.com, which says it is a left-wing outlet, is highlighting business concerns about the wage-boosting departure of illegals from Americans’ worksites:
Combined, these [immigration] provisions may also deal a devastating blow to Florida businesses that rely on migrant labor, as it may force workers and their families to flee Florida, Samuel Vilchez Santiago, the Florida state director of the American Business Immigration Coalition, told Vox.
Latino advocates are also calling for a boycott by Latino truckers because the law bars illegal-migrant drivers who get licenses from states that favor illegal migrants.
Pro-migrant activists are also scoffing at Americans who are learning how to work construction jobs:
@ms.amarilys it might be the best time to get into construction work in Florida
But Americans see opportunities in the illegals’ exit: “Now might be a good time to take my skills to Florida and double my money,” responded a comment from an American HVAC technician living outside Florida.
Business groups have long claimed migration does not impact wages. But they now admit that they use migration to suppress wages and reduce inflation, said Steve Camarota, a policy expert with the Center for Immigration Studies. He wrote on May 16:
The latest immigration advocate to call for more immigration to lower wages is George Mason professor Justin Gest. Drawing on research he did for the immigration advocacy group Fwd.us, he recently wrote in the Wall Street Journal that the country needs more immigration to reduce wages and stem inflation in high-growth cities, particularly in sectors such as hospitality and construction.
Democrats also argue that DeSantis is responsible for Disney’s decision to cancel a planned investment in the state. But Disney has been losing money in recent years, partly because its managers want to promote transgenderism in their movies for kids. The New York Times‘ report claimed:
Mr. DeSantis, however, was dealt a potential political blow with Disney’s Thursday pullout of the Orlando development project, which would have brought more than 2,000 jobs to the region. The move highlighted the ongoing fallout of his targeting of Disney after the company’s chief executive at the time criticized Florida legislation to restrict instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in public schools.
But DeSantis’ allies highlighted reports showing the cancellation is driven by Disney’s new leadership, and by the company’s 2022 economic problems — not by DeSantis’ 2023 support for mainstream civic norms.
Extraction Migration
The federal government has long operated an unpopular economic policy of Extraction Migration. This colonialism-like policy extracts vast amounts of human resources from needy countries, reduces beneficial trade, and uses the imported workers, renters, and consumers to grow Wall Street and the economy.
The migrant inflow has successfully forced down Americans’ wages and also boosted rents and housing prices. The inflow has also pushed many native-born Americans out of careers in a wide variety of business sectors and contributed to the rising death rate of poor Americans.
The lethal policy also sucks jobs and wealth from heartland states by subsidizing coastal investors with a flood of low-wage workers, high-occupancy renters, and government-aided consumers.
The population inflow also reduces the political clout of native-born Americans, because the population replacement allows elites to divorce themselves from the needs and interests of ordinary Americans.
Migration — and especially, labor migration — is unpopular among swing voters. A 54 percent majority of Americans say Biden is allowing a southern border invasion, according to an August 2022 poll commissioned by the left-of-center National Public Radio (NPR). The 54 percent “Invasion” majority included 76 percent of Republicans, 46 percent of independents, and even 40 percent of Democrats.