SB1718, Florida’s new anti-immigrant law backed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, went into effect Saturday, July 1, that will impose some of the country’s toughest penalties and restrictions on undocumented immigrants. 

The wide ranging law that makes it a third-degree felony to “transport” or “harbor” undocumented immigrants in the state, invalidates driver licenses issued by other states to undocumented immigrants, increases penalties for employers who hire undocumented immigrants, among other restrictions, has thousands contemplating a move out of state with some having already left. 

This could prove to be costly to the state's economy should a mass exodus of migrant workers occur as a result of the 2024 Presidential hopeful's immigration policy. 

"We are hearing people are starting to leave," Yvette Cruz with the Farmworkers Association of Florida told CBS News recently regarding reports of migrant workers leaving their work fields and construction projects. "We're just gonna keep seeing that more as the law will take effect."

In the under two months since DeSantis signed the law, videos of empty agricultural fields and protesting truck drivers have gone up on social media, and protests have been held by hundreds of workers and advocates who say the large and struggling agricultural, construction, hospitality, retail, and other labor intensive industries will struggle as a result of SB1718’s restrictions. 

The protests were meant for lawmakers to understand the potential financial consequences that could come because of the new law as well as the effects it would have on the state’s economy. 

A few of the state’s GOP lawmakers at a meeting in Hialeah last month revealed his own concerns with how the law was being interpreted.

“This bill is 100 percent supposed to scare you,” state Rep. Rick Roth (R) said in a recorded video. “I’m a farmer, and I’m mad as hell. We are losing employees. They’re already starting to move to Georgia and other states. It’s urgent that you talk to all your people and convince them that you have resources in their state representatives and other people that can explain the bill to you.” 

The Florida Policy Institute estimates that undocumented immigrants are 10% of the state’s workforce for intensive labor work, almost 400,000 workers who help boost and keep afloat the agricultural, construction, and hospitality economies which contribute about a quarter of the state’s gross domestic product. 

The Sunshine State is home to over 770,000 undocumented immigrants, according to the Migration Policy Institute. 

The new law got the attention of the Mexican Foreign Ministry who in a statement criticized the legislation, saying SB1718 “will affect the human rights of thousands of Mexicans, including children, and will exacerbate hostile environments, which may lead to hate crimes and acts against the migrant community,” they said in a statement Saturday. 

“Criminalization is not the way to solve the issue of undocumented immigration,” the ministry added. 

The Mexican government emphasized the importance of transnational labor markets, and brought up the “intense ties of trade and tourism between Mexico and Florida” that “cannot be overlooked by measures inspired by xenophobic and white nationalist sentiments.”

The Ministry said they’d be helping Mexicans in Florida by “enhancing our consular assistance and protection and legal advice, and we will continue to look out for the interests of our entire community, regardless of their immigration status.”

Rep. Alina Garcia said the law was “basically to scare people from coming into the state of Florida.” 

Whatever its intention, the law signed by DeSantis deals with how employers with 25 or more employees use e-Verify to hire new workers, and imposes financial penalties for employers: 

Business owners face a $1,000 per day fine for each undocumented person hired when not permitted, as well as revocation of the employer’s business license. 

The law makes human trafficking and smuggling second-degree felonies, punishable by a $10,000 fine and up to 15 years in prison for any person, including a US citizen, to transport five or more undocumented people or a minor into the state, which includes relatives, friends, and coworkers. 

SB 1718 also requires Florida hospitals that accept Medicaid to collect the legal status of patients, calculate the cost of healthcare for undocumented immigrant patients and report those totals to the state. 

$12 million in additional funds was added to the state’s general fund for its migrant relocation program, which has included transporting migrants to Martha’s Vineyard last year and most recently Sacramento.