Now even some capitalists who otherwise support DeSantis and the state's GOP-controlled House and Senate are beginning to speak out about how the law is likely to hurt their bottom lines.In his packing plant, Graves Williams, a lifelong Republican, proudly explained the skill, labor, and manpower needed to provide tomatoes across North America, a feat that he says wouldn't be possible without immigrant laborers.
"We all love them to death," said Williams, whose family has been farming tomatoes for decades. "We couldn't run a business without them." Williams, the owner of Quincy Tomato Company, may soon be forced to try. Following right-wing lawmakers' passage of, thousands of working-class immigrants, including many who are residing lawfully in the U.S., have opted to leave Florida.
The new law places harsh restrictions on undocumented immigrants. Among other things, it also requires the "repayment of certain economic development incentives" if the state, which plans to conduct random audits of businesses, "finds or is notified that an employer has knowingly employed" an undocumented immigrant without verifying their employment eligibility.
At the bill signing ceremony on May 10, DeSantis, who is now campaigning for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, slammed President Joe Biden's ostensibly lax immigration policies, saying: "We have to stop this nonsense, this is not good for our country... this is no way to run a government."