During a recent meeting between Florida Republicans and religious leaders to discuss the implications of SB1718, state representative Rick Roth revealed the true nature of the bill he supported before undocumented immigrants began leaving the state in droves and leaving employers without workers. Then he begged the Latine community leaders to talk their people because, and to put it simply, they’re losing money.

SB1718 is an anti-immigration law that will go into effect in Florida on July 1. It was signed into law by Florida Governor and 2024 Presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis “to combat the dangerous effects of illegal immigration caused by the federal government’s reckless border policies.”

“This bill is 100% supposed to scare you,” Roth told the group in a video obtained by Thomas Kennedy of the Democratic National Committee. “I’m a farmer, and the farmers are mad as hell. We are losing employees. They are already starting to move to Georgia and other states.”

Roth then begged the Latine community leaders to “talk to all of your people and convince them that you have resources, state representatives, and other people that can explain the bill to you.”

State Rep. Alina Garcia agreed with her fellow Republican and said SB1718 was meant to “scare people from coming to the state of Florida” and added that it has “done its purpose” but “really doesn’t have any teeth.”

Most people online had no sympathy for individuals like Roth who voted for SB1718 and are now finding out it was a bad idea.

Many migrants make long journeys to get to the United States to work. Didn’t DeSantis realize that moving from Florida to Georgia was always an option for many of them if something like SB1718 was passed and made living in the state unfeasible for them?

Florida is going to find itself in a world of economic hardships in the next few months as more and more immigrants leave the state for greener pastures. But that’s what happens when you mess around with real people’s lives. You find out.