By: EFE Posted 05 Jul 2023, 23:26 pm EDT
MIAMI – The president of the US Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (USHCC), Ramiro Cavazos, condemned in an interview with EFE the new anti-immigrant law promoted by the governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, for being “retrograde” and for being a punishment for the Latino business community.
“We do not believe it is fair that the same community that works every day to strengthen the state’s economy, is now positioned as the enemy,” lamented the business leader when speaking about SB 1718, which went into effect on Saturday, the 1st of July.
Cavazos, president of an organization that represents more than 250 Latino chambers in the country, said that what is happening in the “sunshine state” is “really ironic,” where 20% of the population is immigrant.
Among others, the new measure requires companies with 25 or more employees to use the E-verify system to verify the legal immigration status of their workers.
In this regard, Cavazos recalled that Florida ranks second in the nation in number of Hispanic entrepreneurs, with more than 600,000 businesses contributing more than $90 billion annually to the economy.
“Florida is one of the main centers of Latino entrepreneurship in the United States,” stressed Cavazos, of Mexican origin.
He pointed out that the state government “is affecting the hotel, tourism and agricultural industries and eliminating employment opportunities.”
He specified that in the hospitality, tourism and agriculture sectors there are more than 286,000 companies owned by Latinos in Florida (16.53% of the total), which generate more than one million jobs.
The law promoted by DeSantis, who aspires to be the presidential candidate for the Republican Party, also requires asking about the legal status of patients who go to hospitals that accept Medicaid, a federal and state health program for low-income people.
Cavazos stressed that his organization supports “pro-business and bipartisan solutions” that support the five million Hispanic entrepreneurs in the country and their collaboration with other key organizations.
Taking into account the business value of the Hispanic community in Florida, Cavazos said that Orlando, in the center of the state, was selected this year as the venue for the annual USHCC Conference, which will take place from September 24 to 26. .
The idea is to “raise the economic power of the Latino community,” said the business leader.
“On the House side, we see the number of opportunities that exist in the many Florida cities like Miami, Orlando, Tampa and Fort Lauderdale,” he said.
In that sense, he urged the DeSantis government to “reconsider its approach and its retrograde policies.”
Construction, professional and scientific services, the accommodation and food sector, the arts, entertainment and recreation, retail trade and agriculture, are among the sectors that will be most affected by the immigration verification of the new law, according to the Florida Institute of Politics.
This think tank calculated that these industries employ 391,000 undocumented workers, representing almost 10% of employment in these industries.
The new Florida law likewise establishes that a person who transfers an undocumented person to Florida from another state is committing a second degree felony and considers the fact that the transported person is a minor, even if they are a relative, to be an aggravating circumstance.
Cavazos emphasized that the “negative impact” is not only for the Latino business community but for the entire community.
Hispanic entrepreneurs play “a crucial role in driving growth, innovation and job creation in Florida’s diverse business landscape” and the country, he said.
He also recalled the “significant” increase of 13% of Hispanic farmers in the country between the agricultural censuses of 2012 and 2017.
On the other hand, he pointed out that Hispanic-owned businesses contribute $1.85 billion dollars annually in income to the United States economy and employ almost 11.7 million people in the country.
The business leader stressed that the USHCC “will continue to speak loud and clear on behalf of our members against any form of ignorance or intolerance that attempts to undermine our system of democracy and justice for those who have no voice.”
Keep reading:
– The anti-immigrant and gun-carrying laws signed by Ron DeSantis enter into force
– “I am leaving Florida because I am not going to allow my children to live in the shadows”: the undocumented immigrants who are leaving the state for fear of DeSantis’ new immigration law
– Why SB 1718 affects not only immigrants, but anyone in Florida