Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis isn’t running a state. He’s running a far-right-wing public relations shop designed to tickle the tenderloins of his red meat-scarfing base. So given that he has no real interest in responsibly governing, it’s no surprise that he’s doing it so badly.
Now one of DeSantis’ anti-immigration publicity stunts—no, not the one that has California Gov. Gavin Newsom considering kidnapping charges, but stay tuned to that story—is sowing unintended chaos within the state. Several GOP lawmakers are hoping to tap the brakes on a car that’s already careened off I-75 and started sinking into the swamp.
Several Florida Republicans are now second-guessing a DeSantis-promoted anti-immigration bill. It was meant to discourage immigrants from flocking to the state, but is instead encouraging migrants—who are indispensable to Florida’s economy—to flee to less-awful environs. It’s almost as if they feel like they’re not welcome or something.
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Florida Republicans passed a bill criminalizing the transport of undocumented people into Florida, requiring hospitals to ask about immigration status on intake forms, invalidating out of state driver’s licenses or other forms of government ID issued to undocumented people, and preventing local governments from issuing identification cards to undocumented people.
Now, after sparking backlash among thousands of immigrants (who make up a great deal of Florida’s economy), some Florida Republicans are trying to backpedal and do damage control.
On Monday, Representatives Alina Garcia, Rick Roth, and Juan Fernandez Barquin appeared at an event sponsored by Hialeah Mayor Esteban Bovo, also a Republican. The trio, all of whom voted to pass the anti-immigrant bill, clumsily attempted to appeal to the thousands of people their party has alienated.
Hmm. Why, after sweet-talking their state’s economy to the edge of a cliff and daring it to jump, are they suddenly backtracking?
Might have something to do with the fact that migrant workers—who, again, are vital to Florida commerce—are fleeing the state in droves.
“The negatives is there are families leaving Florida right now where some of them work, some of the family members are legal, and some of them are not,” [state Rep. Rick Roth told] Insider. “But they’re all deciding that they’re not going to split up and live in two different states. So it’s going to be a major problem for the agriculture, construction, and tourism, which just about happens to be most jobs in Florida.”
Some farm workers are too scared to go to work because they’re worried about the crackdown on illegal immigration, WPTV reported. CBS News reported that undocumented immigrants, including construction workers, are leaving Florida for other states.
During Monday’s meeting, Roth called the law “more of a political bill than it is policy.”
“More of a political bill?” No way. You mean migrants aren’t just political punching bags? They also make oversized contributions to Florida’s economy? Who knew? (Other than basically everyone, that is.)
It’s hardly surprising that DeSantis’ performative impulse to solve problems that don’t exist led to serious economic blowback. As he settles into his small-pathetic-man cave at the end of the day, pours himself two fingers of scotch and three fingers of Jell-O Pudding, and dimly wonders how many migrants could fit through Nancy Pelosi’s mail slot, he no doubt reliably fails to consider how his Machiavellian schemes will play out in the real world. Of course, DeSantis recently fucked around and found out when Disney pulled $1 billion in new economic development from the state because he thought stoking people’s irrational hatred for LGBTQ+ people was more important than giving them jobs. Oddly enough, blindly hating transgender people doesn’t pay all that well—unless you happen to work full-time at Fox News.
And now he’s endangering his state’s economy even further by yanking on his constituents’ inky-black, LDL-larded heartstrings.
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But don’t worry, migrant workers! The law was merely meant to “scare” people, according to one of the GOP invertebrates who voted for it. Gee, looks like it worked exactly as designed!
For the nontweeters:
State Rep. Alina Garcia starts by saying she came unprepared, admits the bill is meant to “scare people from coming to Florida” and irresponsibly lies and says the anti-immigrant law has “no teeth.” She should have prepared by actually reading the bill she voted for.
Read the bill? Why? Do Klansmen read the government warnings on their lighter fluid cans before sparking up their crosses? When it comes to rank bigotry, it’s customary to jump in feet first, and worry about the consequences later. After all, these aren’t exactly deep thinkers we’re dealing with.
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Of course, DeSantis has decided he’s going to be president, so maybe he’s just getting an early start on boosting Georgia’s economy. Then again, he’s still technically the governor of Florida, and he’s not done slurping the marrow out of its bleached bones yet. He’ll get around to your state eventually—assuming his campaign doesn’t spontaneously burst into flames on the tarmac, that is.
Stay tuned.
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