Threat of Trucker Protest Isn’t Swaying Ron DeSantis on Migrant Crackdown

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Monday stood by his state’s recently passed immigration laws, despite reports of planned protests in response to it.

As Title 42 came to an end on Thursday, DeSantis signed into law a new bill, SB 1718, which will enact a handful of new rules against undocumented migrants when it goes into effect on July 1. This will include requirements that employers use E-Verify to ensure that their employees are authorized to work in the U.S. and that hospitals collect information on undocumented patients, among other things.

While the new bill has been praised by DeSantis’s allies on the right, it has also received considerable pushback that continues to mount. On Saturday, independent journalist Arturo Dominguez began sharing to Twitter numerous clips of Latin American truck drivers calling for their fellow truckers to begin a service boycott of Florida, which would involve not bringing shipments into the state.

“Truckers, don’t enter the state of Florida,” one of the truckers said in Spanish. “Let’s be united as Latinos in defense of our Latin American brothers who are being assaulted by this very stupid law, which incites hatred and discrimination…My truck won’t move. Don’t enter Florida. Nobody enter Florida.”

Newsweek previously reached out to DeSantis’s press office for comment on those reported boycott plans. While the governor has yet to issue an official statement on the issue, he stood behind SB 1718 during a press conference on Monday when he was pressed about the impact its new requirements would have on industries in Florida.

“Florida law is that you have to be here legally to able to be employed,” DeSantis said. “That’s been the law for forever. And so, when we have something like an E-Verify, that’s a tool to make sure longstanding Florida law is enforced, and I think that that’s important. You can’t build a strong economy based on illegality.”

Despite the numerous videos of truckers spreading on Spanish-language corners of social media, it remains unclear for the time being if any sort of protest has actually begun.

Meanwhile, immigrant advocates in Florida have reported that the state’s undocumented communities are in a panicked state as SB 1718’s new rules approach, with some considering if they might have to leave altogether.

“I’ve been getting a lot of calls from people asking me if they should leave the state,” immigration lawyer Susan Pai said. “The undocumented community is very scared to even show up for work.”

Others on social media have raised the concern that the new laws will lead to an increase in the profiling of anyone who appears to be Latin American or Hispanic, as SB 1718 will void any license issued out-of-state to undocumented individuals.

Newsweek reached out to the Florida Democratic Party via email for comment.