>>This week on NewsNight, immigration in the state of Florida.

A look at a new law that's drawing the ire of immigrant rights activists, but praise from immigration hardliners.

What it all means for the state's immigrant communities and employers and why supporters say the steps are necessary.

NewsNight starts now.

[MUSIC] Hello, I'm Steve Mort, and welcome to NewsNight where we take an in-depth look at the top stories and issues in central Florida and how they affect all of us.

Tonight, we're taking an in-depth look at a new law in Florida that makes sweeping changes to the way the state handles undocumented immigration.

The recent legislation, which came into force on July 1st, introduces a suite of measures.

They range from criminal penalties for harboring undocumented immigrants or transporting them into Florida to expanded requirements on businesses to check workers employment authorization and hospitals that accept Medicaid are now required to ask patients about their immigration status.

Governor Ron DeSantis has blasted what he calls the Biden border crisis, sending state assets to the Texas-Mexico border and conducting controversial migrant flights.

Immigration, in fact, is a key talking point for the governor as he campaigns for the Republican presidential nomination.

First tonight, Krystel Knowles takes a look at the arguments for and against Florida's new immigration law.

>>Hi, welcome.

>>We are still suffering the inflation from COVID.

So now you put on top of that the the products are being more expensive.

>>For the past five years, Nancy Alva has managed a small restaurant.

She says Latin flavor in Brevard county barely survived the pandemic.

Now Alva believes Florida's new law targeting unauthorized immigration will hit agriculture, creating a financial ripple effect throughout the economy and hurting small businesses like hers.

>>Products will not be available as before because farmers are leaving.

That puts a lot of pressure on us to keep up working, to keep our business going.

As a regular person, I go to the store and I find that the products there, they don't have the good quality as before.

And the other thing is they were more expensive.

>>Even before Florida's new law took effect, the agriculture industry had long complained about a labor shortage.

>>The single biggest issue we face is the unprecedented shortage of domestic labor and the restricted access to a H-2A guest workforce.

>>Florida accounts for the largest share of visas issued under the H-2A program for seasonal work, lasting less than a year at a time.

Some in the agriculture industry complain the program is expensive, time consuming and inflexible.

>>>There are no American workers willing to do these jobs.

In fact, American families are the ones being adversely affected as our workforce crisis will continue to drive food prices even higher.

>>Adam Lytch from L&M Farms addressed a U.S. Senate committee hearing on the issue in May.

>>The H-2A program is currently our only option.

The program is greatly flawed and made even more challenging by the federal agency entrusted to administer it.

With a volatile wage structure and program restrictions such as seasonal need, which does not work well in this era of modern agriculture.

>>Florida's new law mandates all businesses with 25 or more employees verify the status of their workers through the federal E-Verify system or face hefty fines.

The Migration Policy Institute says Florida is home to more than 750,000 undocumented immigrants and predicts the new law will impact the service industry.

Nancy Alva says those effects are already being felt in places that rely on tourism.

As workers leave the state.

>>They have a lot of employees that unfortunately, they're undocumented because they can pay less, even though its incorrect.

They will pay less amount of money.

And the owners of those hotels and resorts are very concerned.

>>Governor DeSantis has made immigration a key part of his presidential campaign.

He's touted Florida's new law as a model for the nation.

>>What you want to do is say there's not benefits for coming illegally.

You're either here as a native or you come legally and as or to to find things.

But to come across the border and end up getting benefits in Florida, you know, does not make sense.

>>Republican state Representative Randy Fine says undocumented people should not get a free pass to work.

He says laws should exist to protect American workers.

>>If there's a problem with our immigration policies, then we need to deal with that.

But we shouldn't be saying don't do laws.

I need to operate a criminal enterprise in order to make money because that's what people are doing when they're knowingly hiring illegal immigrants.

That's not the way I was an entrepreneur for 22 years.

I didn't make my money by breaking the law.

No one should.

>>Randy Fine.

Rounding up that piece from Krystel Knowles.

Let's bring in our panel now to break it all down.

Joining us in the studio this week, Natalia Jaramillo from the Orlando Sentinel covers Osceola County for The Sentinel.

Thanks so much for coming in.

Really appreciate your time.

Danielle Prieur 90.7 WMFE News.

Thanks for coming back to the show, Danielle.

>>Thank you.

>>Appreciate it.

And Chantelle Navarro also for the first time from WFTV channel 9.

Thanks for being here, Chantelle.

>>Happy to be here.

>>Chantelle, let me start with you on the big picture first.

Why do opponents of this new law say it will hurt immigrant communities and the state at large?

>>Well, it's going to be a domino effect is what a lot of people are saying.

Right.

It's like we're going to have these people who are at risk of deportation.

If they get deported, then it's going to be families that are separated.

A lot of these families have kids that don't know anything other than the US, and either they go to another state or they're going to go out of the country.

And it's it's going to be there's going to be job losses.

It's a lot.

>>Yeah.

Danielle, on the flip side, those that support this, why do they say it's necessary?

>>Yeah.

So for our series that we've done, Central Florida Seen and Heard immigration divide.

We spoke with a few Republican voters who support the law.

And they basically said they want restrictions in place.

They feel like the federal government hasn't put comprehensive immigration in form or excuse me, reform in place.

And so they support these kind of state and local measures instead.

>>You referred to it there, Chantelle.

There's been sort of speculation about an exodus of labor from the state.

I want to talk a little bit more about that a little later in the show.

But I mean, is there any evidence that migrants are leaving in significant numbers since July 1st when this law came into effect?

>>Yeah, In our coverage, we've already seen a lot of people.

They started leaving even before the law took effect, even before July 1st when it was first announced, because a lot of these people are scared because certain certain aspects of this, you know, the the the part about the licenses.

Right.

So that they can't drive here, that they're afraid to get into their car because they're going to risk deportation.

We were talking to some groups, Mi Familia Vota said that they had families that that left.

They didn't sign up their kids for school.

So far, they personally had 100 people that that didn't that didn't come back.

>>Natalia, before I come to you.

I want to play another excerpt from our interview with Republican State Representative Randy Fine.

Take a listen.

>>I don't think it'll change things much at all because I'd like to believe that most Floridians run their businesses legally.

They're not operating criminal enterprises and if it turns out that a huge percentage of our businesses are actually criminal enterprises, then we have a much bigger problem that we have to deal with.

But the answer is not to facilitate criminality.

The solution is to solve the problem.

>>Representative Fine, there.

Natalia is Representative Fine correct that we won't see much impact on businesses.

I mean, is it overblown?

Or are we seeing signs of strain?

And if so, which sectors are feeling the fallout so far?

>>We are seeing signs of strain.

So the a lot of the agricultural industry has hospitality industry, restaurants.

They're losing a lot of workers because of the law.

They're leaving the state, like Chantelle said.

And it's it's affecting the business a lot.

I spoke with one business owner who owns his own technology company, an Indian immigrant, and he's saying that if people leave and the hospitality industry, too, they don't have the people to come and clean your rooms.

So that could impact the economy overall, and especially central Florida.

>>And as we heard in Krystel's piece, of course, restaurants are also saying it will affect their food supply.

Right?

>>Right.

There's a lot of restaurants that are losing their immigrants.

I've spoken to some who a lot of Venezuelan immigrants, for example, are under asylum.

And they're worried that even though they are here legally, that it's up to the law enforcement to enforce this new law.

And they're worried that they could be discriminated against.

And so they're leaving the state, too.

>>That's a really interesting point.

I want to pivot to talk about the H-2A visa system that as we heard in Krystel's piece just now, many farmers say is a flawed system.

Here's South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham.

>>I am not antagonistic to trying to find a solution to the agricultural dilemma of creating a more robust legal system so you can access legal workers and some can stay because it would add value to our country.

But if we legalize everybody here in the agricultural sector without first securing our border in changing the magnets that are drawing 6 million people in the last couple of years to our country, then we will have made the problem worse.

>>South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham.

Chantelle, Lindsey Graham showing some hesitancy there, right, to loosen those restrictions.

As of now, Florida relies heavily on the H-2A program, I think more so than than any other state, right.

What does it currently require of employers and what are the shortfalls according to businesses?

>>So businesses say not only is it expensive, but it's also it's a cumbersome way to do it because they have to not only apply, they can't have workers.

If they've laid off U.S. workers within 60 days.

They can't have people in this program.

They can't have the H-2A program.

They have to pay them at the highest amount that that position pays.

So that's where the expense comes from.

And they also have to give them a certain amount of hours.

They have a three fourths rule when it comes to the contract.

So they can't just have these, like part time employees.

For the most part, a lot of businesses, you know, they're all going to be forced to play by the rules.

And that's that's the big impact of all of this, right.

Is that now either they're going to leave and then they're not going to have people to fill this worker shortage.

>>And of course, there's the lack of flexibility because farmers don't know oftentimes how their season is going to go.

They don't know how many workers they're going to need until pretty close to time.

Natalia, you wrote about a change in the H-2A rules, right, issued by the Biden administration.

What changed?

And how are employers responding, especially in the current environment in Florida?

>>So the change was an increase in wages.

So before last year, they were charging or paying immigrants from the H-2A visa program, 12 just about $12 an hour.

Now it's up to 14.

So, you know, it's good on one point for these immigrants who are coming to work and pick crops, which not many other people will do.

But now the employers are saying that they're having a difficult time getting these people because they can't afford to pay them, that much more wages.

And so now it's kind of up to, you know, themselves.

They've transitioned now into the U-Pick model.

A lot of these local farms, especially to just kind of be able to pick up enough berries to not have that rotten berry spread diseases to other berries.

So it's an increasing problem, especially after a lot of immigrants are leaving the state or don't want to come and work and pick berries here.

>>Work in the fields.

That's the agriculture industry.

Danielle, you've reported on one or the other industries affected, and that is health care for a whole different set of reasons is requirement now, right, for hospitals to gather the immigration status of patients.

What are the hospital operators and workers say about that?

And what are opponents suggesting migrants say when they're asked about?

>>Yeah, absolutely.

So, you know, a lot of advocates are worried already.

Undocumented people have a lot of fear when it comes to going to the hospital and now with this law.

Imagine being asked that question, right?

You're already scared and nervous.

You're going to the doctor.

>>They have fear because, why?

>>You know, they'll be asked about their immigration status, which is such a private and a personal and kind of invasive question.

Right.

And so, you know, I was speaking with Sylvia Ruiz, who's a dreamer, and she was telling me her dad passed from COVID simply because he didn't go to the hospital in time because he was undocumented.

And she's really worried other people are going to lose their parents because they're not going to go now because of this law.

They're so scared to go and be asked that question.

So advocates say, don't say anything, don't answer the question.

You don't have to especially-- >>Theyre permitted to not say anything.

>>Exactly.

If they go to a hospital that takes Medicaid, you don't have to answer the question.

You don't have to check the box.

>>But it is Medicaid.

The hospitals accept Medicaid supplies.

>>Yeah, absolutely.

Yeah.

>>One of the other key parts of this, Chantelle, is E-Verify.

This is something that I term a lot of people will have heard of.

This is the federal system to to check work authorization.

Florida employers, many of them at least have now got to use this system.

What types of businesses will have to use it and who's in charge of enforcing that rule?

>>So it's going to be a whole lot of businesses, businesses with over 25 employees.

You can just imagine.

I mean, that is restaurants, that's manufacturing, that's farm, you know, all of that agriculture as well.

The problem with this is the people that are going to be in charge is DEO.

And we saw firsthand during COVID, during the pandemic how hard it was for so many people to get those funds to get that extra help.

You know, some people waited months.

Some people wait more than a year.

Some people never got the money.

So a lot of people are worried that they're not going to be able to handle this amount as well.

So now they have the DEO program and then now they have a-- >>DEO Department of Economic Opportunity, right.

Which sort of distributes benefits to unemployment.

Unemployment, Yeah.

I mean, we should note, of course, that in Florida there's some debate about whether this new law includes seasonal workers that aren't specifically mentioned in the legislation.

One of the sort of unknowns there, Danielle and the team by the way, at WMFE have put together an in-depth series, as you mentioned before, about the immigration issue in Florida.

You can find a link to that series, Immigration Divide on our website.

You'll also find the full text of Florida's law, SB 1718 there as well.

It's all at wucf.org/newsnight.

Well, next tonight, the perspective of the immigrants who will feel the impact of Florida's new legislation directly.

Several groups are suing the DeSantis administration, claiming the law will inflict, quote, enormous harm on people's ability to go about their daily lives.

The Florida Farm Workers Association is the plaintiff in the suit and recently joined a number of other groups to organize a rally to protest Florida's new law.

>>When immigrant rights are under attack.

What do we do?

>>Stand up like that.

>>SB 17 is a bill that is unconstitutional and he seeks to undermine-- [SPEAKING SPANISH] >>I have lived in the state of Florida for 23 years and I have never seen our community so concerned, so terrified.

>>We are in solidarity with the green workers, with the farmworkers, with hospitality workers.

[SPEAKING SPANISH] >>Our mentality is we come to the United States to work.

We didn't come to ask.

We didn't come to steal.

We just want to fulfill our dreams.

That's our mentality.

And it still is 23 years later, I came here to work.

I already adopted Florida in the United States as my country.

I love the United States.

I love Florida.

>>We are the world.

We are the people.

And we demand to repeal these unconstitutional laws that hurt every person in Florida.

[SPEAKING SPANISH] >>There is also the bad information and misinformation that is also destroying the emotional peace of our community.

There are people who are saying that they will not be treated in the hospitals because of this law, which is a lie.

People are already withdrawing money from the banks because it's said that after the 1st of July, if they don't have a Social Security number or Florida I.D., they won't give them their money.

That's also not true.

We here at the organization are trying to get the right message out in our community.

>>All right.

Next, we wanted to hear from an undocumented immigrant about their experiences.

We're only using her first name as Stella works at a central Florida facility that harvests and packs produce, such as okra and peppers.

When we caught up with her, she started by talking about her experience walking through the desert to the United States.

[SPEAKING SPANISH] >>I had to leave about 4:00 in the morning because I had to meet up with the person that was going to get me through.

I remember it vividly.

I left my child sleeping and my girl.

All the way I was thinking about them.

I walked all night and all day, walking through the desert, seeing people's bones in the road.

Everything is stuck in my memory.

[SPEAKING SPANISH] >>The worry is what are we going to do?

Like, we cannot work here anymore in the packing house.

We would not be able to take my daughter to her school.

And I thought, We're going to leave, but I'm going to wait until the last minute because my daughter did not want to leave because she has her friends in her school.

So I said, I'm going to risk it until the end and I will remain here.

[SPEAKING SPANISH] >>The rent is very expensive.

The water, the bills.

Nothing is enough.

All I'm planning to do is to continue working as many hours as possible.

That's the only thing we can do us.

[SPEAKING SPANISH] >>I hope this law doesn't last long because it's hurting us a lot.

Because to leave, we would have to establish ourselves somewhere else.

Start from zero.

Here we are established and we have two or three kids here.

Some other people have already left.

I actually know quite a few who have left.

In fact, someone stopped by yesterday to say bye because they were leaving, because they were super scared of the law.

Why are people so cruel?

In my case, because I'm a single mom.

I don't come here to steal.

I only want to work and pray.

I like working at my job.

No money wants to do so.

I don't know why people are treating us this way.

>>A very common story, I think, in that community.

Chantelle, Channel 9 is reported on the Farmworkers Association lawsuit.

What does the organization say about its decision to sue?

>>You know, they say it's it's a human rights violation.

That's how they feel.

That's how you just saw right there.

A lot of people are heartbroken.

They feel like this isn't fair to them.

They feel like their families have lived here and they're seeing firsthand as well.

They've seen dozens of people, Farmworkers Association, who have already left.

And it's heartbreaking for them, too, because they work firsthand with a lot of these people, you know, to help them through their jobs, to get their benefits and stuff like that.

>>Yeah.

Let's talk about the raw numbers, Danielle, and the number of people that could be affected by this law.

You looked into the data on Florida's foreign born population, whatd you find?

>>So about 16% of the metro Orlando area is foreign born, which is really interesting.

And the majority, about 70%, are from Latin America.

And then after that from Asia and kind of on from there.

And I think the most interesting statistic that we found is about a third of Florida kids live in immigrant households.

So these laws don't just affect adults, but also the kiddos, the youngest ones.

And I hope that we can keep that in mind today throughout our conversation.

>>Significant slice of the community.

Natalia, you reported on how immigrants were warned to stay home right when when this law came into effect July 1st.

Do you find people are still nervous now?

>>Oh, absolutely.

Everyone, you know, the the call center that I spoke with there at the Yolanda Center for Justice has a call center where they've seen a 20% increase after, you know, July 1st when it went into effect of people just calling about, you know, if they can take their kids to school, if they should leave the state, if they need to have any other protections or their immigration status or how they can, you know, make their asylum appointments, for example, go faster.

So it's it's a lot of a lot of fear.

>>Yeah.

We talked about the Farmworkers Association.

You mentioned earlier Mi Familia Vota.

How are other groups sort of responding to this kind of writ large?

>>So Mi Familia Vota is working with a lot of these like Puerto Rican businesses and just people in the community, because, sure, a lot of people that are undocumented can't work, but they're kind of going in solidarity now and they are helping them by - theyre trying to mobilize a vote.

That way, you know, this next election cycle, not only can they vote for something way different than this as well, but also there's so much misinformation about what's going on.

Like Danielle was saying, it's like a lot of people are confused about these rules, so they're trying to spread the word of what is fact, what is fiction, and what you actually have to watch out for.

>>You know, which is really why it's important to read a lot of the legislation that we talk about.

Danielle, you kind of alluded to this before, actually SB 1718 increases third degree felony, right, to conceal harbor or shield from detection of persons not in the U.S. legally.

It also talks about the transportation of migrants into the state -- >>Which you talked about as well.

>>Into the into the state of Florida.

What could that mean for mixed status families?

And quite a significant number of those right?

>>Yes.

And it means everything.

So I spoke with Salvador Rosas.

He's a first generation American, but he's from a mixed status family.

So he's a citizen.

His siblings are citizens, but mom and dad or not.

And he was telling me, like even just during the summer vacation that they feel anxious about, like going on vacation to Chicago, He was worried about getting pulled over.

Will he go to prison for 15 years if he's transporting undocumented members of his own family?

And so he's like, it's not a reason to leave the state, but it's definitely making him and his family more anxious.

And we'd all like to spend more time with our grandparents while they're still here.

So it's definitely something causing a lot of anxiety.

>>Natalia, I mean, the Republican agriculture commissioner Welton Simpson, he's a member of the Cabinet, right?

I mean, he's talked about potential unintended consequences of the laws you're concerned about.

>>He's concerned about unintended consequences in the agriculture and hospitality and tourism industry.

He's worried that this could lead to inflation in those areas.

So people not wanting to come and work would raised then wages and would raise consumer prices for that.

So it's it's another factor that comes into play that we have to wait and see if that does happen.

>>Danielle, I mean, there's mixed news as well in this for DACA recipients commonly known as Dreamers in this in this legislation.

I mean, it protects the in-state tuition rate-- >>Which is a huge deal for those kids.

>>But does it complicate matters for them in other ways?

>>It does.

So my story as part of Central Florida Seen and Heard our series on wmfe.org, shameless plug.

Yeah, I talk to kids and so I spoke with an undocumented student, actually at UCF, I'll call him Michael.

And he said he's not going to leave the state because of the law, but he's really worried about will he be able to find a job after because of E-Verify?

So he's worked so hard and he's going to bring his big, beautiful brain and take it to another state.

Right.

So we're going to see a lot of brain drain potentially of a lot of college kids.

And then I've also spoken with elementary school teachers.

I spoke with Alejandra, who's a third grade teacher.

She's a dreamer.

And she said she's seen a lot of her kids already leave.

So at the end of last school year, a lot of families left, went to Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, anywhere but Florida.

And she's getting ready for the first day of school today.

She said one of the things she's getting ready to do is talk about her own immigration status and open up a conversation with families.

She expects many more of her kids to leave within the first few months because of the law.

>>Before we go, I wanted to quickly touch on another immigration issue from our region.

The Venezuelan community is pushing for a way to get permanent residency.

In 2021, the Biden administration granted temporary protected status to Venezuelans in the US, and that expires next year.

Natalia, you've been reporting on this issue and calls for permanent residency for Venezuelan groups.

Why do Venezuelan groups in particular say they should benefit?

>>Well, a lot of them say that it would be similar to the Cuban Adjustment Act that the Cubans have.

>>1966.

>>In 1966.

And so they want to have a pathway to permanent residency.

A lot of them are stuck in the asylum process.

And I spoke to a woman who has been in asylum process for over ten years and hasn't been able to get through to be able to have that permanent residency.

And it makes getting a driver's license, paying credit cards, doing everyday normal things a lot harder.

>>Yeah.

And Congressman Darren Soto sponsoring a bill in the House.

What are you hearing about its potential for passing?

Does it stand a chance?

>>He believes it does.

Obviously, the Venezuelans are hopeful that it will, but it's a long process.

He told me that it's not going to happen in the next year.

It can take many years for something like this to pass, but it does have bipartisan support.

So it is the only immigration bill currently that has bipartisan support.

So they're hoping that they can get more bipartisan support so that it will be able to pass.

>>Well, you can find much more on the immigration issue on our website, including more from the interviews you see tonight and content in Spanish as well.

It's all at wucf.org/newsnight.

That is all the time we have for this week's.

My thanks to Chantelle Navarro, Channel 9, thanks a lot for coming in, Chantelle.

Daniel Prieur, 90.7 WMFE News and Natalia Jaramillo from the Orlando Sentinel, Osceola reporter over there.

Thanks so much for coming in.

We'll see you next Friday night at 8:30 here on WUCF.

From all of us here at NewsNight, take care, and have a great week.