US Florida's tough immigration law sparks uncertainty, fear in immigrants

For many in Florida’s vast immigrant community, daily life in recent months has become one governed entirely by fear.

Some try to drive as little as possible and make fewer trips to the supermarket. Others no longer take their children to the park and worry about allowing them to attend school.

Others still are hiding out — avoiding travel to other states, not getting regular medical check-ups, or closing their businesses and leaving town. And many are just on high alert — all because of a new immigration law Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed in May.

One of the strictest in the nation, the law criminalised transporting immigrants lacking permanent legal status into the state, invalidated any US government identification they might have and blocked local governments from providing them with ID cards. Florida hospitals that receive Medicaid are now mandated to ask patients about immigration status and businesses employing 25 or more people must verify their workers’ legal status.

Other aspects of the law go into effect next year.

DeSantis, who is running for president, signed the bill in hopes of appealing to conservative voters and has criticised President Joe Biden’s administration for the massive influx of migrants at the southern border.

Since then, Associated Press interviews with a dozen immigrants found that daily routines have been upended for fear of being detained, separated from their families and deported.

For one woman, who asked not to be identified for fear of being detained, the change in the law has left her feeling like she traded one world of fear for another.

“I imagined that we were coming to the US to have a better life, to be calmer, but that was not the case," she said. “There is always the fear that something could happen to us.”

The 31-year-old single mother of four fled the violence of Honduras for the safety of the US two years ago. Upon arrival, she sought asylum and worked as a house painter to support her daughters and her mother, who still lacks permanent legal status after crossing into the US illegally six years ago.

Before the new law passed, the woman says her mother helped out by driving her grandchildren to school. Now, she is afraid police will ask her to show a driver’s license and detain and deport her for not having one.

Vagueness and confusion in the law

Florida is home to about 4.6 million foreign-born people, and nearly three-quarters are from Latin America and the Caribbean. At least 825,000 lack permanent legal status, according to the most recent Pew Research Center survey from 2017. And about half of those people contribute to Florida’s workforce and economy in key industries including agriculture, construction, hospitality and more, according to the American Business Immigration Coalition.

“(The law) is impacting their ability to just go about their day like they used to,” said Shalyn Fluharty, an immigration attorney and executive director of the nonprofit law firm American for Immigrant Justice.

Experts like Fluharty characterize the law as vague and confusing, asserting that it raises concerns of mandatory detention, arrests and felony convictions for individuals who have no way of knowing they could be a target, including US citizens who may be transporting immigrants without permanent legal status into the state.

“Whether or not you should be afraid really kind of depends on your unique, individualized, factual circumstances,” Fluharty said. Her advice: If you are afraid, consult with a lawyer.

But not everyone can contact a lawyer.

Many have simply changed their way of living — even families of mixed legal status, with some members being US citizens and others without permanent legal status.