Published by El Nuevo Herald on February 15, 2016
The "wise" Donald Trump suggestions are already having its effect in Florida; It was recently approved by the state legislature a law that relentlessly pursue illegal immigrants.
The HB675 law, approved by state representatives by an overwhelming majority of 80 to 36, requires that local governments, through the police officers detain immigrants suspected of being undocumented.
It also requires that school districts take appropriate action. This is, teachers should expose children who do not submit the legal documents of stay in the US. And of course, children and their illegal parents would be subject to deportation.
The immediate consequences of these "noble and intelligent" measures would include:
▪ The crime rate will increase because many are afraid to report illegal criminal activities in progress, such as murder, rape, armed assaults and robberies.
▪ Trials in court will not have fair results as criminal sentences for serious crimes and others like fraud, embezzlement, money laundering, forgery, etc., will be much milder as many undocumented workers will refuse to serve as witnesses.
▪ The agricultural business will decline and shortages in some vegetables will be evident.
Many illegal survive in the US planting and harvesting vegetables and fruits, such as tomatoes, onions and oranges. It is estimated that workers in these matters are 80% immigrants.
Given that the law must be fulfilled, these agricultural fields will be subject to state supervision, which will make immigrants be absent due to frequent raids.
With the decline of agricultural supply, product shortages will cause price increases. The export of some items disappear and thus affect the growth we had in 2015 when the export of goods and services increased by 35%.
▪ The sale of books and school supplies will decrease. The profitability of school transport will decrease for having fewer children-customers.
▪ The cost of Police will increase and thereby will increase taxes to taxpayers. To carry out massive raids, more agents and more technically advanced procedures are necessary.
As we see, the "bright" Donald Trump divisive ideas begin to spread. The anti - immigrant pionner law passed in Arizona and known as the HB1070, which was endorsed by Sheriff Joe Arpaio in 2010, was partially dissolved by the Supreme Court due to violations of the Constitution.
Logically , the sheriff Arpaio recently publicly expressed support for the candidacy of Donald Trump.
Both want to deeply divide the great American nation, mainly by legal status and race.
In Florida, the urgent intervention of the state Senate may actually have a vital importance, before the end of this legislative session, in order to repeal this absurd law HB675.
In addition to be human, this would be a smart move because this catastrophic law may suffer the same fate as the Arizona HB1070: partially or completely dissolved by the Supreme Court. Why we have to absorb the cost that means this painful litigation?
Benjamin F. DeYurre
Economist and journalist.
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