'Sanctuary cities' bill threatens Florida's entire agriculture industry | Nikki Fried

More than 54 % of Florida’s immigrants work in farming, fishing or forestry. They make up more than 45 % of the workforce in those industries.

Over the past year that I’ve traveled across Florida, listening to and learning from our farmers and ranchers, I’ve gained an appreciation of what agriculture means to our state. It’s honest work. It’s tiring work. And most of the time, it’s thankless work. Behind only tourism, it’s the backbone of Florida’s economy.

As commissioner, it’s my job to stand up for Florida’s agriculture community. As an elected official, it’s my responsibility to act on behalf of everyone who chooses to seek opportunity in Florida, and call it home. And as a human being, it’s my obligation to recognize injustice whenever I see it.

SB 168 – the bill outlawing so-called "sanctuary cities" – is rapidly moving through the Florida Legislature. It’s dangerous for immigrant communities working to build better lives for their families.

Over 20 % of Floridians are immigrants; 20 % of those are undocumented. Immigrant households strengthen Florida’s economy, with $73 billion in spending power. Nearly 30 % of Florida’s self-employed business owners are immigrants. And immigrants in Florida pay nearly $17 billion in federal taxes and $6 billion in state taxes.

This legislation will target Florida’s already vulnerable immigrant community – both documented and undocumented – and push them into the shadows. It will make the jobs of local law enforcement even more difficult and demanding. It’s destructive to many industries, including agriculture.

This bill would leave many Florida businesses with significant workforce shortages, and place unnecessary burden on an agriculture community still working hard to rebuild. 

In case anyone’s forgotten, Florida farmers in 25 counties are still recovering from the destruction of Hurricane Irma, where agricultural damages totaled over $2.5 billion; farmers in the Panhandle are still recovering from Hurricane Michael, which led to $1.3 billion in agriculture losses. We need extra labor to increase the rate of recovery and alternative crops as other growing options.

At a time in which we need to support Florida agriculture most, this legislation harms not only people who work hard in agriculture jobs, but also the more than 47,000 commercial farms in Florida that employ them.

The bill also faces this small dilemma: There are no sanctuary cities in Florida — and President Trump’s own Justice Department has agreed.

We don’t need divisive rhetoric on the backs of immigrants. What we do need – if we’re serious about putting America and Florida first – is comprehensive reform that fixes our flawed immigration system and allows people coming to pursue the American dream a fair opportunity to do so.

When I raised my right hand on Inauguration Day, I made a promise to defend our Constitution and to look out for the people of this state. That means all the people – women, men, children, seniors, immigrants, everyone with a dream of a brighter tomorrow.

Immigrants, no matter their provenance, are part of the fabric of our society. They are a part of our story. They farm our lands and feed our families.

I sincerely hope that when given the chance, our lawmakers will appeal to humanity, decency and common sense by voting no on SB 168. 

Nicole “Nikki” Fried is Florida’s Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services.