A sign held by immigration activists at the state capitol in Tallahassee on Feb. 15, 2024 (photo credit: Mitch Perry)
Quality Journalism for Critical Times
Seven months after one of the strictest immigration laws in the nation went into effect, dozens of immigrant rights activists gathered in the state Capitol building on Thursday to speak out about what one person called the “never ending attacks on immigrants” in Florida.
“From 2019 we have experienced consistent dehumanization of immigrants with last year’s [Senate bill] 1718 , which was the most egregious anti-immigrant policy in the history of our state,” said Tessa Petit, the co-executive director of the Florida Immigrant Coalition.
That law included provisions such as requiring employers with 25 or more employees to use the E-Verify system to vet the legal status of workers; banning the use of legally-issued out-of-state driver’s licenses from states that issue them regardless of immigration status, and requiring hospitals that receive Medicaid funding to ask their patients about their immigration status.