Read without ads and support Scribd by becoming a Scribd Premium Reader.
See Premium Plans
 
1Center for American Progress | Florida Shouldn’t Make Arizona’s Mistake
Florida Shouldn’t Make Arizona’s Mistake
Anti-Immigrant Bills Will Be Bad for the State’s Economy
Ann Garcia and Sam Chatto April 2011
Roughly a year aer passage o Arizona’s harsh ani-immigran legislaion, S.B. 1070, heFlorida sae legislaure is considering wo similar bills. Tese bills pose a severe eco-nomic hrea o he sae. I passed, hey will undoubedly bligh he sae’s image, hur businesses, and alienae he sae’s legal immigran populaion—all wihou solving heproblem o undocumened immigraion.In he Florida House o Represenaives,H.B. 7089 , sponsored by Rep. William Snyder(R-Suar), makes i a crime o be a oreign naional wihou papers. Te proposed bill alsoallows sae law enorcemen o check he immigraion saus o any individual i here is“reasonable suspicion” ha hey are in he counry illegally, and i requires employers o veriy he immigraion saus o all employees hrough E-Veriy, a web-based sysem hacompares inormaion rom he Employmen Eligibiliy Vericaion Form, or I-9, againsederal governmen daabases o veriy workers’ employmen eligibiliy.In he sae Senae, Sen. Aniere Flores (R-Kendall) is driving a similar bill,S.B. 2040 ,hrough he legislaive process. Te bill mandaes ha all employers use E-Veriy or anew sae-based vericaion process. Te bill also srongly encourages all sae and localpolice o engage in immigraion enorcemen efors.I Florida is serious abou providing a brigh economic uure, hen bills aiming odrive millions o people ou o he sae and placing burdensome coss on employersis he wrong approach.Here’s wha is a sake:
 The wheels of tourism could stop turning
Economic devastation could strike Florida’s largest economic sector—tourism.
Like Arizona, a large porion o Florida’s economy is derived rom ourism and convenions.ouriss spend more han$7 billiona year wihin he sae, and an Arizona-like law 
 
2Center for American Progress | Florida Shouldn’t Make Arizona’s Mistake
has he poenial o severely afec his vial source o revenue. Arizona saw a oal losso $217 millionin direc spending by convenion atendees, along wih an addiional$535.4 millionin los ax revenues, economic oupu, and earnings in he immediae wake o S.B. 1070’s enacmen.
Latinos will flock to places where they feel welcome.
Florida sands o see similar i no worse cus o heir ourism and convenion indusries i he Arizona-like legisla-ion is successul. Tis popular desinaion or Cenral and Souh Americans wouldineviably become less appealing as he sae would gain a repuaion or being unwel-coming o immigrans and especially o Lainos. Adam Punam, ormerly a Republicancongressman and currenly Florida’s agriculure commissioner,said , “We are known asa diverse, welcoming sae or inernaional invesors, inernaional enrepreneurs …paricularly rom Lain America. We have o be very careul abou messages we sendexplicily and implicily.”
Florida businesses stand to lose greatly
Florida oranges will go unpicked.
Florida, which hasmore han wicehe numbero undocumened immigrans as Arizona, depends on immigrans o do he jobs Americans simply reuse o perorm. Reggie Brown, execuive vice presiden o heFlorida omao Growers Exchange,saida sae immigraion law “would basically elimi-nae he omao indusry rom he sae. … in agriculure we are oally dependen upona hand process wih no opporuniy in he oreseeable uure o do anyhing diferen.”
Checking legal status isn’t easy.
Many small businesses hroughou Florida do nohave he resources o pu each poenial employee hrough he E-Veriy sysem. “I don’hink mos small businesses would have he capabiliy or he resources o efecively ell i someone is illegal or no,”saidDon Sanos, pas presiden o he reasure CoasBuilders Associaion and presiden o Sanos Consrucion in Suar, FL.
Immigrants are consumers and job creators.
 
Florida businesses would sand o loseemployees under he proposed bills as well as a large porion o heir cusomer base.Te ciy o Riverside, NJ , became a shell o is ormer sel as 45 percen o is businessesclosed and 75 percen o immigrans, legal and undocumened alike, le aer he ciy passed an ani-immigran ordinance.
Fewer immigrants mean less tax revenue for Florida
Immigrants are taxpayers, too.
Florida’s scal cofers have been hi paricularly hardduring he economic downurn, and he sae’s expeced budge shorall has grown o$3.6 billionhis year. Wih undocumened immigrans conribuing$4.5 billiona year in ax revenues, now is no he ime o eliminae his sable ax base.
Search
Search History:
Searching...
Result 00 of 00
00 results for result for
  • p.

    • More From This User

    11 p.
    A Woman’s Agenda for the 21st Century
    Center for American Progress
    20 Reads
    11 p.
    A Woman's Agenda for the 21st Century
    Center for American Progress
    4 Reads
    36 p.
    Just Jobs Index 2013
    Center for American Progress
    38 Reads
    5 p.
    A Dual Disenfranchisement: 2013 Update
    Center for American Progress
    28 Reads
    68 p.
    Foreign Law Bans
    Center for American Progress
    45 Reads
    189 p.
    No Justice for the Injured
    Center for American Progress
    14 Reads
    6 p.
    National and State-by-State Economic Benefits of Immigration Reform
    Center for American Progress
    107 Reads
    13 p.
    The Structure and Organization of the Syrian Opposition
    Center for American Progress
    189 Reads
    18 p.
    Freedom of the Press and Expression in Turkey
    Center for American Progress
    84 Reads
    52 p.
    Canada's Approach to School Funding
    Center for American Progress
    61 Reads
    48 p.
    School Turnaround in Shanghai
    Center for American Progress
    115 Reads
    60 p.
    Governing American Education
    Center for American Progress
    106 Reads
    3 p.
    Federal Judicial Emergencies
    Center for American Progress
    50 Reads
    12 p.
    9 Reasons Why Progress on Stronger Gun Laws Is Within Reach
    Center for American Progress
    94 Reads
    7 p.
    The Importance of Preschool and Child Care for Working Mothers
    Center for American Progress
    47 Reads
    8 p.
    Why Gender-Identity Nondiscrimination in Insurance Makes Sense
    Center for American Progress
    131 Reads
    6 p.
    The United States Is Far Behind Other Countries on Pre-K
    Center for American Progress
    147 Reads
    10 p.
    Disastrous Spending: Federal Disaster-Relief Expenditures Rise amid...
    Center for American Progress
    242 Reads
    44 p.
    Carbon Market Crossroads: New Ideas for Harnessing Global Markets t...
    Center for American Progress
    403 Reads
    8 p.
    Using Executive Authority to Account for the Greenhouse-Gas Emissio...
    Center for American Progress
    176 Reads
    11 p.
    Thou Shall Not Kill: Faith Groups and Gun-Violence Prevention
    Center for American Progress
    252 Reads
    6 p.
    Economic Snapshot: April 2013
    Center for American Progress
    236 Reads
    15 p.
    Infrastructure and Resilience: Forging a National Strategy for Reco...
    Center for American Progress
    234 Reads
    10 p.
    Census Bureau Faces Danger from Budget Cuts and Ideological Grandst...
    Center for American Progress
    261 Reads
    14 p.
    Preventing Domestic Abusers and Stalkers from Accessing Guns
    Center for American Progress
    102 Reads
    Notes
    Load more