Florida Republican Who Voted for Anti-Immigrant Bill Admits It's Doing Harm

ARepublican state representative who voted in favor of a new law setting strict anti-immigration policies has admitted that "the harm is done" when it came to the impact of the new regulation. Speaking on CBS News Miami on Monday, Rick Roth said the law would have "unintended consequences," referencing its potential impact on undocumented migrant workers already in the state. The representative for the state's 85th House district was among 83 legislators to approve Senate Bill 1718 in Florida on May 2. Roth was previously recorded as saying that the bill was "100 percent supposed to scare you" and lamenting the potential loss of farm laborers for his constituents just days after voting for it. Florida's lawmakers enacted the new law in April, and it is set to go into full effect on July 1 this year. ADVERTISING SUBSCRIBE NOW FROM JUST $1 > Among its provision are requirements that some businesses use e-verify software—a program for checking whether employees are legally able to work in the U.S.—and that hospitals collect certain information on undocumented patients. Migrant worker farm Florida A migrant worker works on a farm land in Homestead, Florida on May 11, 2023. Some local Republicans have voiced criticism of a new immigration bill that creates stricter laws for undocumented immigrants in the state. CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES The e-verify requirement has caused alarm among some Republicans with predominantly agricultural constituencies close to the Mexican border, fearing a labor shortage. Roth said earlier in June that farm employees were already moving to neighboring Georgia. After being challenged about his comments given his voting record by Yareliz Mendez, federal campaign lead for the Florida Immigrant Coalition, Roth responded on CBS News Miami that the law was only intended to combat the undocumented migrants attempting to make it into the state after July 1 but that this had not been well-signposted. SIGN UP FOR NEWSWEEK’S EMAIL UPDATES > He said there should have been information given out to make clear that the law was only "for people applying for a new job, and that the "unintended consequences" included an apparent exodus of undocumented migrant workers from Florida. "It's clear to me the main purpose is primarily to deal with the 5 million people coming across the border from Mexico now," he told the local news network. According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data, there have been more than 1.4 million encounters with migrants along the southern land border in the first seven months of this fiscal year; at the same point in 2022, there had been nearly 1.3 million encounters. The Migration Policy Institute estimates around 772,000 undocumented people live in Florida, the largest cohort of whom are Mexican and many others are from other Central and South American nations. Republicans urge immigrants to stay in Florida, fearing new law's impactREAD MORERepublicans urge immigrants to stay in Florida, fearing new law's impact During his earlier remarks about SB 1718 at an event in Hialeah, Florida, on June 5, Roth said "the farmers are mad as hell" at the effects of the bill becoming law, and urged those at the meeting to seek resources to properly explain the bill. ADVERTISING Newsweek approached Roth via email for comment on Tuesday. The new legislation was signed by Florida's Republican governor and presidential candidate Ron DeSantis after a Trump administration-era immigration policy linked to the coronavirus pandemic expired. DeSantis said the Florida government would "not stand idly by while the federal government abandons its lawful duties." However, despite some supporting the new measure, others have criticized the move. Shortly after it became law, Latino truckers vowed on social media to boycott deliveries to and from the state in a bid to make legislators appreciate the work they do. For more information, visit us at https://www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com/.