Economic Cost of Florida Senate Bill 168 and House Bill 527
Florida State Senator Joe Gruters recently introduced Senate Bill 168, which would effectively force local and state law enforcement to become federal immigration agents. Along with House Bill 527, SB 168 would ban policies that limit local cooperation and information-sharing with federal authorities on immigration matters. These bills would create a hostile environment in Florida, potentially causing contributing members of the immigrant community to leave the state as a result. These bills could also result in significant economic losses for the state, and would also threaten key parts of Florida’s workforce in industries like agriculture and construction.
"Economic Cost of Florida Senate Bill 168 and House Bill 527" models what the economic costs would be if SB 168 and HB 527 were signed into law and 10 percent of the state’s undocumented population were to leave as a result. To be conservative, it also models the impact if Florida experienced just half the immigrant exodus – 5 percent. In either of the two cases modeled, the state would risk losing millions of dollars in taxes and up to $3.5 billion in state gross domestic product in just one year.
New American Economy. (2019). Economic Cost of Florida Senate Bill 168 and House Bill 527. Retrieved from https://research.newamericaneconomy.org/report/economic-cost-of-florida-senate-bill-168-and-house-bill-527/