America’s immigration laws are always changing at the federal level. But even modifications to existing state law can have tremendous ramifications for you and your loved ones. This very well may be the case with new legislation that was signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
What does the new law do?
Effective July 1, 2023, Florida’s immigration-related laws will change many aspects of immigrants’ lives. These include:
- Limiting social services to undocumented immigrants
- Providing millions of dollars in funding for migrant relocation
- Invalidating out-of-state driver’s licenses that were issued to undocumented immigrants
- Requiring hospitals that accept Medicaid to question patients about their immigration status
- Mandating that businesses with 25 or more employees utilize the E-Verify system to confirm whether workers and applications are legally permitted to live and work in the United States
- Penalizing business $1,000 per day for E-Verity violations
- Allowing prosecutors to charge undocumented immigrants with a felony offense if they use false identification to secure employment
- Expanding the definition of human smuggling to include those instances where someone knowingly transports an immigrant who hasn’t been “inspected” by authorities into the state
As you can see, these immigration law changes are significant, and some of them aren’t very clear. Yet, once they come into effect, you’ll want to ensure that you abide by them so that you and your loved ones don’t face unwanted consequences.
Do you need help navigating your immigration issues?
If so, then you’ll want to continue educating yourself about the immigration process and changes to the law. With that information you’ll hopefully be able to confidently navigate the process. But if you still feel like you need help, then you shouldn’t hesitate to seek out the kind of support that you think will be useful to your situation.
